Türkiye's population aged 65 and over reached 9,583,059 in 2025, increasing by 20.5 per cent over the past five years, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute's (TurkStat) "Statistics on Older Persons, 2026" report.

The share of elderly people in Türkiye's total population rose to 11.1 per cent in 2025, up from 9.5 per cent in 2020, showing the continued ageing trend in the country's demographic structure. Women accounted for 55.3 per cent of the elderly population, while men represented 44.7 per cent.

Sinop has highest elderly population ratio

According to the report, Sinop had the highest proportion of elderly residents among Türkiye's provinces, with 21.7 per cent of its population aged 65 and over.

Sinop was followed by Kastamonu with 21.1 per cent and Giresun with 20.0 per cent.

The provinces with the lowest elderly population ratios were Şırnak with 3.8 per cent, Şanlıurfa with 4.5 per cent and Hakkâri with 4.7 per cent.

More than 7 million households include elderly members

The report showed that 7,046,560 households in Türkiye have at least one person aged 65 or older. Elderly individuals were present in 26.1 per cent of all households.

The number of people aged 65 and over living alone reached 1,836,496. Women made up 73.5 per cent of elderly people living alone, while men accounted for 26.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, 37.9 per cent of elderly individuals were found to live at the same address with at least one of their children.

Education and life expectancy among elderly population

The education profile of elderly citizens showed that 62.9 per cent were primary school graduates, 29.3 per cent had completed secondary education or equivalent schooling, and 7.8 per cent were high school graduates.

The share of elderly people with higher education degrees stood at 11.2 per cent.

Life expectancy at birth in Türkiye was calculated at 78.5 years in 2025, reaching 75.9 years for men and 81.1 years for women.

A person reaching the age of 65 is expected to live an additional 18.4 years on average. This figure was calculated as 16.7 years for men and 20.0 years for women.

Poverty risk and digital access among elderly people

The report found that 22.8 per cent of elderly individuals were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2025.

The rate was 23.6 per cent among elderly women and 21.8 per cent among elderly men.

Internet use among people aged 65-74 increased significantly, reaching 21.2 per cent in 2025 compared with 12.9 per cent in 2020.

Internet usage was higher among men at 27.1 per cent, while the rate among women stood at 15.5 per cent.

Elderly participation in workforce

The labour force participation rate among the elderly population was recorded at 12.9 per cent.

The rate was 21.2 per cent for elderly men and 6.2 per cent for elderly women.

Among employed elderly people, 61.3 per cent worked in agriculture, 33.5 per cent in the services sector, 3.1 per cent in construction and 2.1 per cent in industry.

Circulatory diseases remain leading cause of death

According to the report, 54.3 per cent of people aged 65 and over described themselves as happy, while 13.8 per cent said they were unhappy. Another 31.9 per cent rated their happiness level as moderate.

Circulatory system diseases were the leading cause of death among the elderly population in 2025, accounting for 38.1 per cent of deaths.

Respiratory system diseases followed with 17.4 per cent, while benign and malignant tumours accounted for 14.0 per cent.

Elderly population expected to increase further

Population projections show that the share of elderly people in Türkiye's population is expected to continue rising.

According to projections, the elderly population ratio is expected to reach 13.5 per cent in 2030, 17.9 per cent in 2040, 27.0 per cent in 2060, 33.4 per cent in 2080 and 33.6 per cent in 2100.(ILKHA)