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Turkey Population 2025 & Religious Demographics: Trends & Insights

Turkey is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe. It’s one of the most populated countries in western Asia and the world’s 17th most populated country. It shares borders with the Black Sea to the north; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran to the east; Iraq to the southeast; Syria and the Mediterranean Sea to the south; the Aegean Sea to the west; and Greece and Bulgaria to the northwest.

According to the Address-Based Population Recording System of Turkey, the country’s population was 85,279,553 in 2022, and As per the UN World Population Prospects report, the estimated population of Turkey in 2025 is 86,696,476
(86 million or 8.6 Crore)

Source: World Population Prospects 

also read about Top countries in Asia by population

Turkey2025 Population
Total Population86,696,476 (86 million)
Global Rank18th 
Share of World Pop.1.08%
Land Area 769,632 sq. km
(297,157 sq. mi)
Area Rank36
Pop. Density110 person/sq. km
Fertility Rate* in Turkey2.10
Infant mortality rate** in Turkey7.3
Median Age in Turkey 31.5  years
Life Expectancy in Turkey 78.45  years
Urban Population of Turkey75.7 

Source: UN World Population Prospects report

Religious Demographics of Turkey (2025 Updated)

Turkey is a secular state with no official state religion; the Turkish Constitution provides for freedom of religion and conscience. Islam is the majority religion in Turkey, adhered to by 89% of the total population; religiously unaffiliated people comprised 10% of the population, while 1% were Christians and other minority religions.

Religion Percentage in Turkey 

ReligionPercent%
Islam 89%
Christianity and Other Religions1%
Unaffiliated / Irreligion 
Deism4.5%
Agnosticism 2.7%
Atheism1.7%
Unanswered 1.7%

Source: 2019 estimates

Islam in Turkey

Islam is the predominant religion in Turkey, with about 90% of Muslims belonging to the Sunni branch of Islam and predominantly following the Hanafi fiqh. The Shia sects make up about 10% of the population, with most of them being adherents of the Alevi faith, which is considered by most of its followers to be a form of Shia Islam. However, a minority considers it to have different origins. The Bektashi community is a small Sufi order of Islam that is closely related to Alevism and is indigenous to Turkey, but it also has many followers in the Balkan peninsula. Other sects such as Alawite, observed by some ethnic Arabs in southern provinces, and Jafari, the traditional sect of ethnic Azerbaijanis, also have significant populations in Turkey.

Largest Cities in Turkey by Population
RankCityPopulation
1Istanbul15,655,924
2Ankara5,186,602
3İzmir4,479,525
4Bursa3,214,571
5Antalya2,696,249
6Konya2,320,241
7Adana2,270,298
8Şanlıurfa2,213,964
9Gaziantep2,164,134
10Kocaeli2,102,907
11Mersin1,938,389
12Hatay1,544,640
13Manisa1,475,716
14Kayseri1,445,683
15Samsun1,377,546
16Balıkesir1,273,519
17Tekirdağ1,167,059
18Aydın1,161,702
19Van1,127,612

Source: TÜİK’s address-based calculation as of December 31, 2023 

Sources:

UN World Population Prospects 

Turkish Statistical Institute

PEW Research center

Population of Turkey 2025 | Religion in Turkey

Rajeev Rana

Rajeev Rana loves reading about history and demography and has been writing on these topics for five years. While not a certified expert, he has a deep understanding of demography in India. Rajeev contributes to several websites and has extensive knowledge of the Delhi NCR area.