Disputes continue in Northern Cyprus over the size of the population

July 11 marks World Population Day, established by the UN General Assembly in 1990. In Northern Cyprus, there is an ongoing dispute over the size of the population. The last time the census was held here 13 years ago — in 2011.

Recall, earlier the Statistical Institute of the TRNC published data according to which the population of Northern Cyprus is 407 thousand people. Many officials strongly disagree with such conclusions: in their opinion, there are much more people living in the country. They refer to the data on water consumption in the municipalities and the amount of garbage produced. For example, the head of the Turkish municipality of Nicosia (LTB) Mehmet Harmanji, the number of people in the city is between 160 and 200 thousand people.

The publication Kibris Postasi conducted a survey among prominent political figures on how many people they think actually live in North Cyprus.
According to the survey, TRNC Interior Minister Dursun Oguz rejected claims that the population of the TRNC exceeds 407,000 people, as in his opinion “these claims are unsubstantiated”.

Irfan Tansel Demir, president of the Statistics Authority, agreed, confirming an earlier figure of 407,000, with a notable concentration in Kyrenia and Iskele. He refuted claims that the population was as high as 1 million or 600,000, calling estimates based on water and telephone subscription fees unrealistic.

At the same time, former Interior Minister Ayşegül Beybars criticized the figures as superficial, calling for a new census because the 13-year hiatus “has led to inaccuracies affecting per capita income regulation and allocations for schools, hospitals, civil servants and police.” He also criticized the government for not registering the population properly and encouraging illegal residence through amnesties, which she said undermines the seriousness of the state.

Mahmut Ozcinar, president of the Union of Turkish Municipalities of Cyprus (KTBB), linked the increase in water consumption to tourism activities, saying it “distorts statistics.” He also noted that in addition to illegal entries, the population data is well documented.

To add, Interior Minister Dursun Oguz announced agreements with 15 out of 18 municipalities for the Digital Database System (MAKS) project. The aim of this project is to provide accurate population data through an address census as soon as all municipalities are ready.

For his part, the President of the Statistical Office revealed plans to conduct a data-based census by 2025 after the completion of the Address-Based Registration System. He emphasized that the number of illegal residents in TRNC is insignificant and overdue permits affect a maximum of 1000–2000 people.