The National Statistical Institute announced the latest data about the demographic processes in Bulgaria until December 31, 2018. The analysis notes that demographic developments take decades and do not change in the course of one year only. That is why they can be forecasted easily. In other words, the population of Bulgaria continues to decrease and age. The total natality rate also dwindles. The number of marriages and divorces in this country has increased. On December 31, 2018 the population of this country amounted to 7,000,039 people, or 1.4% of the population of the European Union. The number of Bulgarian citizens decreased with 49,995 (0.7%) as compared to 2017. Taking into consideration that fact that the Bulgarian population has been constantly decreasing in number, in April 2019 this country’s population is under 7 million people for sure, NSI contends.

On December 31, 2018 a total of 5,159,129 Bulgarians lived in the cities, which was 73.7% of the whole population. Meanwhile, a total of 1,840,910 people lived in the Bulgarian villages, which was 26.3% of this country’s population. There were 5,256 towns and villages in Bulgaria on December 31 last year, including 257 towns and 4,999 villages. In 2018 only 29 Bulgarian towns and cities registered an increase of their population. Last year two Bulgarian villages were completely depopulated. Thus, the number of depopulated Bulgarian villages rose to 164.

Meanwhile, the Bulgarian population continues ageing. Last year 21.3% of the Bulgarian nationals were aged 65 or above. 24.8% of the Bulgarian women were aged 65 or above, whereas 17.7% of the Bulgarian men were in that age category. On one hand, the ageing of the Bulgarian population results in increased public spending for pensions and the necessity for reforms in the national pension system. On the other hand, spending on healthcare and medical care increased as well. The business is also affected by the deteriorating demographic structure of the Bulgarian population, because the number of well-educated and qualified people who contribute to labor productivity also decreased.

However, some positive developments also occurred in 2018. The number of people who returned to their home country is higher as compared to previous years. In 2018 the number of people who settled in Bulgaria went up by nearly 4,000 people to 29,600 as compared to 2017. 55% of the people who settled in Bulgaria last year had Bulgarian citizenship. However, the number of Bulgarian citizens who left this country in 2018 also increased with nearly 4,000 to 31,300 people.

Editor: Stoimen Pavlov

English version: Kostadin Atanasov