TÜRKİYE in 80 years (1923 - 2003)
29th October 2003 marks the 80th anniversary of the Republic of Türkiye. During that period Türkiye leapt forward in all the areas including education, culture, health, agriculture, industry and technology.
Population
The first census of the Republic was in 1927 and the population of Turkiye was 13.6 million. Today the population is 69.6 million, which is an increase of 5.1 times that of 1927. The most interesting aspect of the population is its age distribution. With 50% of the population under 20 and more than 70% under 35 years old, Türkiye has one of the youngest populations in the world.
In 1935, 23.5% of the population was living in the cities. In 1995 this figure rose to 65% across the country with regional figures reaching to 71% in the Marmara and Aegean and 86% in Thrace.
Health Services
The rate of infant death decreased from 15% in 1970’s to 3.9% in 2001 and the child death rate from 6% to 1.6% during the same period. In 1940 there was one hospital for every 116,000 persons which improved to 62,000 in 1996. In 1930 there was one doctor for every 12,000 persons which improved to 776 in 2001.
Education
The most dramatic improvements were in education. Atatürk’s reforms in changing the alphabet from Arabic, which was very hard to learn to Latin, accelerated the literacy figures from 20% in 1935 to more than 90% in 2001. Primary and secondary school numbers increased 10 times during the period from 1925 to 1997. Technical school numbers increased 50-60 times and the university numbers increased 100 times during the same period.
Economy
The economic growth in Türkiye can be analysed based in two distinct indicators. The first is the increase in GNP (Gross National Product) figures per capita from $69 in 1925 to $3079 in 1997 with an average increase of 4.6% per year which is above the world average. The other indicator is the sectoral changes within the economy. In 1925 the share of sectors in GDP (Gross Domestic Product) were agriculture 47.8%, industry 9.5% and services 42.7% which changed in 1997 to agriculture 13.4%, industry 23.7% and services 62.9%. These changes were reflected in the labour force as well. In 1955, 77.4% of the labour force was in the agricultural sector, which reduced to 54% in 1990. During the same period the labour force in industry increased from 6.6% to 12.6% and in services sector from 16% to 24%.
Developments in agriculture resulted in productivity. The production of wheat is increased from 344 kg per hectare in 1925 to nearly one ton per hectare in 1997. Similarly the productivity is increased 1.5 times in barley, 3.5 times in maze, 1.5 times in cotton and 20 times in sugar beet.
The number of production companies increased from 2,618 in 1950 to over 10,000 in 1995. The average labour force for these companies increased from 63 to 95 during the same period.
The electricity consumption increased from 3 kWh per capita in 1925 to 1,415 kWh in 2001. Domestic consumption increased from 12% in 1945 to 31% in 1997.
While the exports were increased 7 times during 1980-1995, the imports were increased 4.5 times during the same period. During 1965-1980 the agricultural products were the major export items however after 1980 the industrial products became the bulk of the exports.
Foreign tourist numbers increased from 1 million in 1980 to 10 million in 1997 while the income from these tourists increased 20 times during the same period.
According to the World Development Report 1998-99 by the World Bank, Türkiye has 1.1% of the world population, 0.7% of the World Gross Product and 0.6% of the world exports. Türkiye ranks 19 in the list of countries based on its 2002 GNP.
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