Demographics of Turkmenistan
Population pyramid of Turkmenistan in 2020
Population	7,057,841 [1] (2022 est.)
Growth rate	0.99% (2022 est.)
Birth rate	17.51 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Death rate	5.95 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Life expectancy	71.83 years
• male	68.8 years
• female	75 years
Fertility rate	2.03 children born/woman (2022 est.)
Infant mortality rate	37.62 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate	-1.71 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years	25.44%
65 and over	5.38%
Sex ratio
Total	0.98 male(s)/female (2022 est.)
At birth	1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15	1.03 male(s)/female
65 and over	0.59 male(s)/female
Nationality
Nationality	Turkmenistani
Language
Official	Turkmen

The Demographics of Turkmenistan is about the demographic features of the population of Turkmenistan, including population growth, population density, ethnicity, education level, health, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population. The ethnic majority in Turkmenistan call themselves Turkmen.

Demographic trends

The 17 January 1939 census showed a population of 1,251,883, of which 741.5 thousand Turkmen, 232.9 thousand Russians, 107.4 thousand Uzbeks, 61.4 thousand Kazakhs, 19.5 thousand Tatars, 8,300 Iranians, 5,400 Baloch, and 75.5 thousand other nationalities.^[2] The population of Turkmenistan increased from 1.5 million in the 1959 census to 4.5 million in the 1995 census.^[3] The population continued growing to over 5 million in 2001–2006.^[4] According to opposition media, Turkmenistan's population in 2019 was no more than 3.3 million.^[5] As of July 2021, anonymous official sources informed opposition news media that the population of Turkmenistan had fallen to between 2.7 and 2.8 million.^[6]

According to some sources, deteriorating economic conditions have led to massive emigration of Turkmenistanis to other countries in search of work, possibly as many as 1,879,413 between 2008 and 2018, inclusive. Primary destinations are Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine.^[5] Between 2013 and 2019, the number of emigrants to Russia from Turkmenistan doubled.^[7] As one consequence, in 2018 Turkmen authorities began barring some citizens, particularly those younger than 40 years of age, from leaving the country in an apparent effort to stem emigration.^{[8][9][10][11][12]}

A once-in-a-decade national census was conducted December 17–27, 2022. Opposition media reported that many people claimed not to have been interviewed by census workers, or that census workers merely telephoned respondents, and did not visit them to count residents.^[13][14] According to the results of the 2022 census, the results of which were published in July 2023, the population of Turkmenistan was 7,057,841.^[15][16] However, offshore media disputed that figure, with one source claiming it came out of "thin air".^[17] Official population estimates are likely too high, given known emigration trends.^[18] Population growth has been offset by emigration in search of permanent employment.^{[citation needed]}

Vital statistics

UN estimates

^[19]

Registered births and deaths