Çorum district populations fell in 12 of 14 districts in a single year. What do TÜİK figures show, who is leaving, and how can those who stay be supported?
In the yard of the village school, where the break-time bell could once be heard, weeds now grow. The rows at Friday prayers get a little shorter every year, weddings are held in the big city, and houses that fill up during the religious holidays fall silent again once the holiday is over. Çorum district population figures describe this quiet change in numbers: according to the 2025 results of the Address-Based Population Registration System of TÜİK (the Turkish Statistical Institute), 12 of Çorum's 14 districts lost population within a single year. Only two districts grew: Merkez (the central district) and Sungurlu. In this article we read the shrinking of the districts through the data, and then look at what this change means psychologically for those who stay, those who leave, and their families.
Çorum District Population: What Do the Figures Say?
At the end of 2025, Çorum's total population stood at 519,590, a fall of 1,745 people compared with the previous year. However, this overall figure hides the movement within the province. The central district grew by 2,310 people in one year to reach 299,565, and it is home to 57.65% of the province's population. Sungurlu also grew, by 235 people, to 49,079. Meanwhile, taking all the districts outside the centre together, the loss over a single year reaches 4,055 people.
In proportional terms, the fastest-shrinking districts from 2024 to 2025 were:
- Laçin: from 4,336 to 4,094 (a 5.58% fall)
- Dodurga: from 5,325 to 5,036 (a 5.43% fall)
- Uğurludağ: from 6,282 to 5,992 (a 4.62% fall)
- Bayat: from 13,954 to 13,312 (a 4.60% fall)
- Mecitözü: from 13,480 to 12,911 (a 4.22% fall)
Oğuzlar (3.84%), Kargı (2.57%), İskilip (2.38%), Boğazkale (2.34%), Alaca (1.56%), Ortaköy (0.95%) and Osmancık (0.89%) are also among the districts that lost population. A fall of 4–5% in one year may look small; but if that pace continues for several years, it means a district of a few thousand people losing a significant share of its population within a few years.
The long-term trend
This is not a one-year fluctuation. The 2015 Social Analysis of Çorum Province by the Central Black Sea Development Agency (OKA) states that in 2013–2014, too, the net migration rate of every district outside the centre was negative, with Bayat and Uğurludağ losing the most. According to the same report, the urbanisation rate across the province had risen from 52% in 2000 to 71% in 2014. According to a statement by the Union of Turkish Agricultural Chambers (TZOB), Çorum's rural population fell by roughly a third between 2007 and 2016; this figure comes from an organisation's statement, not from a primary TÜİK table.
Even so, Çorum remains a province with a strong rural character. According to a calculation based on 2025 data, around 23% of the population lives in small towns and villages; in Turkey as a whole, this figure is 6.4%. Population density is 42 people per square kilometre, compared with a Turkish average of 112.
The limits of the data
The district figures were taken from the 2024 and 2025 tables published in local news reports citing TÜİK, and the rates of change were calculated from these figures. Up-to-date net migration rates by district and the share of older people by district could not be found in published sources. For this reason, the claim that "the shrinking districts are older" should be read as an inference based on the general pattern of migration, not as something shown directly by the data.
Who Leaves and Who Stays? A Sociological Reading
There is no recent age breakdown of who is leaving the districts. However, provincial data give some idea. According to OKA's 2015 report, both inward and outward migration in Çorum were concentrated in the 20–24 age group. In other words, a large share of those leaving are young people setting out to study, work or marry. Çorum's share of older people (17.87%, compared with 11.1% in Turkey) and its median age of 41.3 (Turkey: 34.9) are also consistent with this picture.
Possible factors that may explain this change include:
Two-step migration. There is a movement that runs from the village to the district town, from the district town to the provincial centre, and from the provincial centre to Ankara or Istanbul. The fact that the central district is growing while the province as a whole is shrinking suggests that these steps are working together.
Moving away from farming. In families that make their living from the land, the new generation often does not want to, or cannot, carry on farming. Being closer to schools, jobs and health services is among the strongest reasons for moving to the centre.
Access to services. Specialist doctors, secondary schools, the university and job opportunities are concentrated in the centre. For families with children, this difference can make the decision to move easier.
A knock-on effect. As young people leave, schools have fewer pupils and shopkeepers have fewer customers, which in turn makes the district less attractive for those who remain.
The strengths of rural life. It would be unfair to read this picture only as a story of decline. Small districts and villages offer strong neighbourly ties, a life close to nature, a lower cost of living and a sense of belonging that has lasted for generations. Indeed, TÜİK migration data show that in 2025, the 1,161 people who came to Çorum to "return to family or home town" were around four times the number who left for the same reason (298). This figure covers the whole province and does not show which district returnees settled in; even so, it is a reminder that the bond with home has not been broken, and that for some people, going back is also an option.
TÜİK's latest projections also suggest that the general direction will not change: according to the values reported in the news, Çorum's population is expected to fall to around 494,000 by 2030. These projections should be read with caution; but the direction of decline and ageing is consistent.
As Çorum District Populations Shrink: The Psychological Side of Living in a Smaller Place
Population tables count the people who leave a place; they do not count what those left behind feel. Yet living in a shrinking district or village has its own emotional climate.
An invisible grief
The emptying of a village or district is an experience of loss that has no name. The shutters come down on the neighbour's house, childhood friends leave one by one, the school closes, and the once lively market falls quiet. None of these losses is a "death" on its own; but together they build up into a feeling of grief. In psychology, losses of this kind are sometimes called "ambiguous loss": what has been lost has not disappeared, but it is no longer what it used to be either. We look at the general course of grief in our article on the grieving process.
The feeling of being "the last ones left"
Older people who remain in shrinking places may sometimes feel like the last witnesses of an era. On one hand, this feeling brings pride: standing by one's roots, the land and the family home inherited from one's ancestors. On the other hand, it brings loneliness and insecurity: if someone fell ill on a winter night, who would get there in time, and what would happen if the road were closed?
The dilemma of those who leave
Young people who leave the district are part of this change too. For many, leaving is a necessity or an opportunity; but the parents left behind, the village growing lonelier and the sense of "having abandoned home" can create guilt. Coming back for the holidays and finding the house quieter than before can carry both longing and a weight on one's conscience.
Children growing up in a shrinking place
Children and young people growing up in shrinking districts are also affected by this change. Classes get smaller, there are fewer peers, some schools merge, and children have to get used to longer journeys on the school bus. For teenagers, the thought "there is no future for me here" can take shape at an early age. On the one hand, this thought can fuel goal-setting and dreaming; on the other, it can lead to feeling estranged from where they live and anxious about growing apart from their family. For a young person, loving their home town and wanting to leave it are possible at the same time; when the family makes room for both feelings, the young person can make their decision with confidence rather than guilt.
Becoming a migrant within your own province
Families who move from a district to the provincial centre also go through a period of adjustment. They move from a house with a garden to a flat, from a street where everyone knows everyone else to a housing complex where they do not know their neighbour's name; from extended-family life to a nuclear family, from the field to the factory or the shop. On paper this is a move within the same province, but the change experienced can be as deep as migration. We explore this experience separately in our article on moving from the districts to the centre.
The shrinking of a place is not just a minus sign in a population table; it is a gap in the memory of the people who live there.
Let us imagine a couple in their sixties living in a village attached to a small district, who have seen all three of their children off, first to central Çorum and then to Ankara. In summer, when the grandchildren come, the house comes alive; in October, once everyone has left, the couple speak only to each other for days on end. One morning they learn that the last grocery shop in the neighbouring village has closed too. In this fictional example, what has been lost is not a shop, but a weekly meeting, a conversation and a sense of belonging.
Practical Suggestions for People Living in Shrinking Districts and Their Families
For those who stay
- Name the loss. Saying "the village isn't what it used to be" is not belittling what you feel; it is recognising it. Losses become lighter when they are talked about.
- Build a small network close to home. Meeting the remaining neighbours on set days, checking in on one another and planning for winter needs together offer both practical and emotional reassurance.
- Keep up your routines. The garden, the animals, prayer, market day; familiar routines offer something to hold on to in times of uncertainty.
- Build bridges with technology. Video calls can be an easy way to stay close to grandchildren; asking a grandchild to show you how is another chance for contact in itself.
For those who have left and children living far away
- Do not confuse guilt with responsibility. Having left does not mean you have been disloyal to your family. What matters is how you keep the bond alive.
- Do not save visits only for the holidays. Short but regular visits can create a greater sense of security than one or two long visits a year.
- Talk decisions through together. When the idea of your parents moving to the centre or moving in with you comes up, take their attachment to the land and the home seriously.
For families who move to the centre
- Find something to hold on to in the new neighbourhood: the mosque congregation, other parents at the children's school, people from your home district.
- Keep your children's bond with their grandparents in the village alive; this bond is protective for both the older people and the children.
- Accept that the change is not experienced at the same speed by everyone; one spouse may adapt quickly to the town while the other misses the village.
- You do not have to give up the village house and garden completely; keeping it as a place you return to at weekends or in summer can ease the transition for both the older people and the children and lessen the sense of being cut off.
When Should You Seek Professional Support?
Feeling sad that a place has changed is natural. However, it may be helpful to talk to a professional in the following situations:
- If longing and sorrow are not easing even after months have passed, and are making daily tasks harder
- If loneliness, sleeplessness and listlessness appear together
- If there is constant tension and blame within the family after a move
- If your worry about a relative far away has become uncontrollable
- If hopelessness or thoughts such as "there's no point in living any more" have appeared
Thoughts of self-harm or of ending one's life are an emergency; in such a situation, call 112 (emergency services) and do not leave the person alone.
How Are Loss of Place and Migration Grief Addressed in Therapy?
In therapy, the loss of a place is treated as a kind of grief that is often overlooked. The first step is to recognise the person's loss as legitimate: a village emptying, a house being shut up or leaving a town is a real loss. In cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), thoughts such as "It's all over" or "I'll just waste away here too", and the withdrawal they feed, are examined together; ways of reconnecting through small, realistic steps are then explored.
In sessions with family members who have moved away, the work focuses on guilt, family expectations and boundaries. Being able to talk about the different needs of each generation can lighten the load for both those who leave and those who stay. For people living in districts where travel is difficult, individual therapy sessions can take place face to face or continue online.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which districts of Çorum are losing population fastest?
According to TÜİK's 2025 data, the districts that shrank most in proportional terms over one year were Laçin, Dodurga, Uğurludağ, Bayat and Mecitözü. In these districts, the fall was between 4% and 5.6%.
Why is the population of Çorum's districts falling?
There is no single reason. Young people leaving for the centre or for other provinces to study and work, moving away from farming, the concentration of services in the centre and a low birth rate are among the possible factors. Up-to-date reasons for migration are not published separately at district level.
My parents, who live alone in the village, do not want to move. What should I do?
First, listen to why they want to stay; the house, the land and the neighbours often mean security and identity. Instead of moving, intermediate solutions such as regular visits, staying in touch with a nearby neighbour and keeping up with health check-ups can also be discussed.
Is it normal to feel sad that my home town is changing?
Yes. When a familiar place empties out or changes, it can bring up feelings similar to grief. These feelings usually ease with time; if they persist and become heavier, seeking support can help.
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Eda Erkan Alapala
Klinik Psikolog. İstanbul Kent Üniversitesi Klinik Psikoloji Tezli Yüksek Lisans mezunu; bilişsel davranışçı terapi, çocuk merkezli oyun terapisi ve çocuk-ergen psikoterapisi alanlarında eğitimlerini tamamlamıştır.
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