World Factbook
Turkmenistan
Last updated: 2026-03-28 (today)
Literacy
male
99.9% (2022 est.)
female
99.9% (2022 est.)
total population
99.9% (2022 est.)
Languages
Languages
Turkmen (official) 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7%
major-language sample(s)
Dünýä Faktlar Kitaby – esasy maglumatlaryň wajyp çeşmesidir (Turkmen) The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Religions
Muslim 93%, Christian 6.4%, Buddhist <1%, folk religion <1%, Jewish <1%, other <1%, unspecified <1% (2020 est.)
Sex ratio
at birth
1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years
1.03 male(s)/female
15-64 years
0.99 male(s)/female
total population
0.98 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
65 years and over
0.78 male(s)/female
Birth rate
16.43 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Death rate
5.99 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Median age
male
30.7 years
total
31.6 years (2025 est.)
female
31.7 years
Population
male
2,842,870
total
5,744,151 (2024 est.)
female
2,901,281
Nationality
noun
Turkmenistani(s)
adjective
Turkmenistani
Tobacco use
male
9.4% (2025 est.)
total
4.8% (2025 est.)
female
0.5% (2025 est.)
Urbanization
urban population
54% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization
2.23% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Age structure
0-14 years
24.5% (male 711,784/female 692,967)
15-64 years
68.6% (male 1,956,740/female 1,984,333)
65 years and over
6.9% (2024 est.) (male 174,346/female 223,981)
Ethnic groups
Turkmen 85%, Uzbek 5%, Russian 4%, other 6% (2003 est.)
Child marriage
women married by age 15
0.2% (2019)
women married by age 18
6.1% (2019)
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio
45.8 (2024 est.)
youth dependency ratio
35.6 (2024 est.)
potential support ratio
9.9 (2024 est.)
elderly dependency ratio
10.1 (2024 est.)
Physician density
1.93 physicians/1,000 population (2023)
Health expenditure
Health expenditure (as % of GDP)
5.6% of GDP (2021)
Health expenditure (as % of national budget)
8.5% of national budget (2022 est.)
Net migration rate
-1.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Hospital bed density
4 beds/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Total fertility rate
2.02 children born/woman (2025 est.)
Drinking water source
improved: rural
rural: 100% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 100% of population (2022 est.)
improved: urban
urban: 100% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 0% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 0% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: urban
urban: 0% of population (2022 est.)
Education expenditure
Education expenditure (% GDP)
2.7% of GDP (2023 est.)
Education expenditure (% national budget)
29.6% national budget (2024 est.)
Infant mortality rate
male
43.6 deaths/1,000 live births
total
35 deaths/1,000 live births (2025 est.)
female
27.7 deaths/1,000 live births
Population growth rate
0.88% (2025 est.)
Gross reproduction rate
0.99 (2025 est.)
Population distribution
the most densely populated areas are the southern, eastern, and northeastern oases; approximately 50% of the population lives in and around the capital of Ashgabat
Life expectancy at birth
male
69.4 years
female
75.5 years
total population
72.4 years (2024 est.)
Maternal mortality ratio
5 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)
Sanitation facility access
improved: rural
rural: 100% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 99.9% of population (2022 est.)
improved: urban
urban: 99.8% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 0% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 0.1% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: urban
urban: 0.2% of population (2022 est.)
Alcohol consumption per capita
beer
0.65 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine
1.25 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
total
2.88 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits
0.98 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols
0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Major urban areas - population
902,000 ASHGABAT (capital) (2023)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate
18.6% (2016)
Mother's mean age at first birth
24.2 years (2019)
Currently married women (ages 15-49)
65% (2019 est.)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight
3.1% (2019 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
male
12 years (2022 est.)
total
13 years (2023 est.)
female
12 years (2022 est.)