FRANKFURT (CIHAN) - Turkey is the only country on the European continent whose population is increasing dynamically, according to a recent survey of a Berlin-based Institute showed.
Turkey will have the largest population in the European Union by 2015 if they gain EU membership the survey predicted.
The populations of current EU members, with the exception of Cyprus, Poland and Malta, have all been dropping rapidly while Turkey's population has been increasing.
Germany is the most populated country in the EU with 82,424,609. The population growth rate is just 0.2 percent in Germany. On the other hand, Turkey has 68,893,918 people and a population growth rate of 1.13 percent, according to recent figures.
Experts at the Berlin Institute for World Population and Global Development said that 30 percent of the Turkish population is below 15 years old while only 6 percent of it is above 65 years old. The corresponding figures for European countries are 17 percent for people above 65 years old.
Despite the recent slowdown in population growth in Turkey, experts say that the total fertility rate in Turkey is still as high as 1.98 children per woman.
The total population of the new EU members is 74 million while Turkey, which is hoping to open accession talks with the EU has nearly 70 million people.
The researchers said that the populations of future EU members Romania and Bulgaria are similar to those of current members.
The main characteristic of the Turkish population is its low literacy and education rates. Experts say that this low education rate of Turkey's young population will prevent EU countries from benefiting from the much-needed young labor force.