Türkiye’s average household size fell to 3.08 people in 2025, continuing a long-term decline, while the share of single-person households climbed to a record high, according to official data released Tuesday.
The data, published by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜIK) in its “Family Statistics 2025” report, showed the country’s average household size dropped from four people in 2008 to 3.08 last year.
The southeastern Şırnak province recorded the highest average household size at 4.84 people, followed by Şanlıurfa with 4.63 and Batman with 4.43. Tunceli had the smallest average household size at 2.49 people, ahead of Giresun and Çanakkale.
The proportion of single-person households rose sharply from 13.9% in 2014 to 20.5% in 2025, reflecting shifting demographic and social trends across Türkiye.
Meanwhile, the share of "nuclear families", defined as households consisting of couples, couples with children, or a single parent with at least one child, declined from 67.4% to 62.7% over the same period.
Extended families also became less common, falling from 16.7% to 13.5%, while households made up of multiple individuals without a nuclear family structure increased from 2.1% to 3.3%.
Gümüşhane posted the country’s highest rate of single-person households at 32.7%, followed by Tunceli and Giresun. Batman recorded the lowest share at 11.5%.
Gaziantep had the highest proportion of nuclear-family households at 70.5%, while Tunceli ranked lowest at 49.9%.
The report found that 11.3% of all households in Türkiye consisted of single parents and children in 2025. Of those, 8.5% were households headed by mothers and children, while 2.8% consisted of fathers and children.
Bingöl recorded the highest rate of single-parent households at 13.8%, followed by Elazığ and Adana.
Extended families were most common in Hakkari, where they accounted for 21.2% of households, ahead of Batman and Şırnak.
According to the Address-Based Population Registration System (ADNKS), Türkiye had nearly 27 million households in 2025, with 41.9% including at least one child aged 17 or younger.
Şanlıurfa had the highest share of households with children at 68.2%, while Tunceli recorded the lowest at 27.3%.
The report also highlighted Türkiye’s aging population. At least one person aged 65 or older lived in 26.1% of households, totaling more than 7 million homes. Of those elderly residents, 1.83 million were living alone.
Among people aged 25-29 who had never married, 70% were still living with at least one parent, according to the data.
On social well-being, 69% of respondents said family was their greatest source of happiness. Children ranked second at 15.6%, followed by spouses, parents and grandchildren.
The data also showed that 193,793 couples divorced in 2025, while custody decisions were issued for 191,371 children. Mothers received custody in 74.6% of cases, compared with 25.4% for fathers.
According to the Family and Social Services Ministry, 15,508 children were under institutional care nationwide last year. Türkiye also had 9,096 foster families caring for 10,841 children, while 681 children were adopted.
