The majority of Turkmen citizens are ethnic Turkmen, as well as significant minorities of Uzbeks and Russians. Smaller minorities include Kazakhs, Tatars, Ukrainians, Kurds (natives of the Kopetdag Mountains), Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Balochis and Pashtuns. The percentage of ethnic Russians in Turkmenistan decreased from 18.6% in 1939 to 9.5% in 1989. In 2012, it was confirmed that the population of Turkmenistan decreased due to some specific factors [what?] and this is less than the previously estimated 5 million. In the CIA World Fact book, the ethnic composition of Turkmenistan is presented as follows: 85% Turkmen, 5% Uzbek, 4% Russian and 6% others (2003 estimates). According to the data published in Ashgabat in February 2001, 91% of the population are Turkmen, 3% are Uzbeks and 2% are Russians. Between 1989 and 2001, the number of Turkmens in Turkmenistan doubled (from 2.5 to 4.9 million), while the number of Russians decreased by two-thirds (from 334,000 to just over 100,000).

According to the CIA World Factbook, Muslims make up 89% of the population, while 9% of the population are followers of the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the remaining 2% are considered non-religious. However, according to a 2009 Pew Research Center report, 93.1% of Turkmenistan's population is Muslim.