Ankara – In its annual report issued by the inner migration statistics of 2024, the Turkish Statistics Institute revealed a wide population movement Türkiye During the past year, more than 2.68 million people moved between the various Turkish provinces.
These moves, announced in the middle of this month, reveal a shift in the lifestyles and opportunities available to citizens, with the increasing impact of living and educational motives on the transition decisions.
This phenomenon also reflects great challenges related to population crowding and economic pressures, which enhances the importance of research in the repercussions of internal immigration at the social and economic level.
Istanbul is an attraction center
Continuing Istanbul By preserving its position as the most important destination for internal migration in Turkey, the city received 395,485 people in 2024, to remain a major attraction for those looking for economic, educational and cultural opportunities, despite the major challenges it faces such as high cost of living and population crowding, which reflects the city’s continuous attractiveness as a civilized center that provides unparalleled opportunities.
But Istanbul was not just a destination for immigrants, but also a major source of migration, with 369,453 people left, which highlights a complex population dynamic indicating that the city – despite its temptations – also pushes part of its residents to search for alternatives in other regions.
This trend varies between individuals who migrate for economic reasons, such as the high costs of life, crowding and earthquake threats, which opens the way for analyzing the negative effects of this population pressure on the quality of life in the city.
In the same context, Istanbul followed the reception of migrants. Ankara With 202 thousand and 402 people, then Izmir 117 thousand and 889 people, which shows that the major cities remain the main driver of internal migration.
On the other hand, some governorates registered low numbers of migration, such as Ardhan, which received 4 thousand and 570 expatriates, Payport 5 thousand and 644 expatriates, Tongli 6 thousand and 739 expatriates, which reflects the large differences in distributing opportunities and resources between Turkish regions.
Immigration motives
Data reveals that the living and educational motives constitute the main engines behind the internal migration movement in Turkey. Among more than two million and 680 thousand immigrants, 579 thousand and 507 of them had moved for reasons related to joining a family member, which reflects the role of family ties in taking immigration decisions.
Following directly, the motive for improving housing and life conditions, as 512 thousand and 370 people migrated in search of a better living environment. As for education, it was the main factor in the migration of 479,622 people, which confirms the importance of educational institutions in attracting young people to cities and regions that provide better educational opportunities.
Among the age groups, the most active category in the migration movement was the youth category from 20 to 24 years, which recorded 549,43 immigrants. This is the large increase in the numbers of young immigrants is mainly related to the search for higher education opportunities or the beginning of professional life.
The data reveals remarkable disparities in the motives of migration between males and females. For males, improving housing and living conditions was the most common cause of immigration, as they numbered 255 thousand and 846 people, and the factors associated with the family such as moving or changing work formed other important motives for them.
On the other hand, the motives for immigration in females were distinct, as family ties topped the reasons, with the migration of 343,342 women in search of stability or joining a family member, while education came and improving housing and living conditions in the second and third ranks for females.
These differences indicate that males may tend more to immigration in search of direct economic opportunities, while women may be more affected by family and educational factors in making immigration decisions.
The most prominent challenges
The researcher in immigration studies, Haider Haluk Gilan, pointed out that the increasing cost of living in major cities such as Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, especially in the areas of basic needs such as food and housing, negatively affects people with low incomes, such as students, where this group finds more difficulty in moving to these cities that were considered one of the most prominent migration destinations for the purposes of education and work.
Gilan added, in his interview with Al -Jazeera Net, that the current data indicates that the immigration numbers related to work witnessed a remarkable increase after the circumstances of the pandemic and earthquakes that struck Turkey on February 6, 2023, but these numbers began to go towards a return to normal levels.
He believes that this phenomenon creates new challenges in the areas of infrastructure, such as social adaptation issues and problems related to urban assimilation, which highlights the need to restructure the management of major cities to be able to face these challenges.
The researcher pointed out that cooperation between public institutions, such as local governments and NGOs, is very important in this context, and that the role of the central government in supporting these efforts and policies at the local level is also of great importance, especially in areas that suffer from weakness in administrative capacity such as small cities.
On the other hand, Gilan called for an increase in investments in cities Anatolia Small, considering that this step will contribute to reducing pressure on major cities. He stressed that strengthening the capabilities of local governments in these cities will help reduce the reasons for immigration to them, while maintaining the stability of the population in the least attractive areas of migrants.
Political effects
Political researcher Ahmed Ozgour believes that internal migration in Türkiye greatly affects political stability, as it contributes to changing the population balance and affects the distribution of political forces.
For example, the increasing number of migrants to major cities such as Istanbul and Ankara may enhance the power of parties that are popular in these cities, especially in local and national elections. On the other hand, areas with less or reverse immigration, such as some Anatolia governorates, may face economic and social challenges that require greater government intervention.
In his interview with Al -Jazeera Net, Ozgour believes that the economic challenges resulting from pressure on public services in major cities such as education, health and housing may create social divisions and increase discontent in some areas, which gives opposition parties an opportunity to benefit from these feelings to enhance their support.