Positive trends in sustainable development

TURKEY’S sustainable development indicators for 2010-2017 were released by the country’s statistical authority, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), yesterday, pointing to an improvement in the country in terms of development.

One of the most remarkable improvements was recorded in net official development assistance. The total amount of net official development assistance made by Turkey as a donor country increased more than eightfold to $8.12 billion in 2017, according to the figures. “While net official development assistance as a proportion of the gross domestic product was 0.13 percent in 2010, it increased to 0.95 percent in 2017,” TurkStat said. TurkStat said the relative at risk of poverty rate fell 3.4 percentage points from 16.9 percent in 2010 to 13.5 percent in 2017. “While the poverty risk rate for individuals under 15 years of age was 24.8 percent in 2010, this rate was 21.3 percent in 2017. The poverty rate for the young population, representing the 15 to 24 age group, was 18.5 percent in 2010 and decreased to 15.8 percent in 2017,” it said. In the same period, the proportion of young people neither in employment nor in education or training declined to 24.2 percent, down from 32.3 percent. TurkStat stated that the research and development expenditures-GDP ratio rose from 0.80 percent to 0.96 percent in the 2010-2017 period. In the same period, fixed internet broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants increased to 14.7 percent from 9.6 percent. “While the proportion of individuals using the internet was 37.6 percent in 2010, it was 64.7 percent in 2017,” the institute said.

As of 2017, the share of the population with access to electricity was 100 percent, while 59.8 percent of households have natural gas. Official figures showed that 28.6 percent of Turkey was forestland in 2017, up from 27.2 percent in 2010.

“While the maternal mortality rate was 16.4 per 100,000 live births in 2010, this ratio decreased to 14.6 in 2017. The under-5 mortality rate was 11.2 per 1,000 live births in 2017, compared to 15.5 in 2010,” the institute said.