North Cyprus’s population passes 450,000: Statistics institute says

The TRNC’s population was projected as exactly 476,214 by the end of 2023 by its statistics institute on Monday.

The institute said its projection was “produced in line with assumptions prepared by taking into account the changes in migration data obtained from administrative records,” based on the last census carried out in 2011.

It added that the projection had been “improved to meet national and international needs”, and that it had been compiled with the assistance of experts from Turkey’s statistics institute.

The projection was dated as December 31 last year and stated that there are a total of 257,789 men and 218,425 women living in north Cyprus.

Additionally, the institute revised up its estimate for December 31 last year, saying it had projected a total of 462,747 people living in the north on that date – up from a previous estimate of 399,727 published in January this year.

The statement shared the “TRNC Year-End Population Projections for 2019-2023” as follows:

• In 2019: 420,556 (227,056 men and 193,500 women)
• In 2020: 419,810 (225,306 men and 194,504 women)
• In 2021: 448,268 (242,381 men and 205,887 women)
• In 2022: 462,747 (250,421 men and 212,326 women)
• In 2023: 476,214 (257,789 men and 218,425 women)

It was noted that the revised projections would be used in future calculations published by the institute.

However, this figure is far from estimates given by notable Turkish Cypriot politicians.

Ruling coalition party DP ‘MP’ Serhat Akpinar had said earlier this year that the TRNC’s population is one million, and had later said the TRNC “must limit and stop” its handing out of ‘citizenships’ to stem its rapid population growth.

“If we want the Turkish Cypriots to hold on to their future and their own will, we must limit and stop citizens of third world countries from obtaining citizenships, as they do under our current legal framework,” Akpinar told the Cyprus Mail.

He also called on the ‘government’ to work to determine the exact number of people living in north Cyprus, saying “our population needs to be determined to be able to properly manage the processes of all kinds of criminal incidents, to support the police force, and to carry out health reforms.”

Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriot Mukhtars’ Association chairman Akay Darbaz had said the population is over a million.

He said he had concluded on that figure following a series of interviews conducted with mukhtars from across the TRNC and described the TRNC’s population growth as “scary”.

Additionally, the TRNC’s communications authority announced that there are a total of 996,401 mobile subscribers in the country, of whom 811,183 are active.

Using similar methods, Turkey’s communications authority found that the country’s mobile penetration rate is 113.5 per cent, once again suggesting that the TRNC’s population is near a million.

However, some have continued to insist that the statistics institute’s projections are correct, with TRNC president Ersin Tatar saying a year ago that the TRNC’s population is 410,000, while ‘interior minister’ Dursun Oguz said the population is 400,000 “and we have to accept it”.