The population of Bulgaria is 7,351,234 people

“On February 1 this year, the population of Bulgaria was 7,351,234 people - down by 581,750 people, compared to 2001,” said Chairman of the National Statistical Institute (NSI) Mariana Kotseva. She pointed out that a decrease in the number of inhabitants of Bulgaria and in the number of people under 18 years of age had already been recorded in three consecutive censuses – in 1992, 2001 and in the current one, while at the same time a trend for an increase in the percentage of people over 64 years of age was noticed. In the past 10 years, their share was up from 16.8% to 18.9%.

A total of 2,826,740 households, each averaging 2.6 people, and 3,898,688 homes with an average of 1.9 residents were counted. Clear and accelerating trends of demographic ageing and declining numbers of the population were established. This is one of the main conclusions of the finalised census, the preliminary results of which were announced yesterday by the NSI.

In 2001, some 19.4% of the population were under 18 years of age, while ten years later the share of the youngest people is 15.9%. The share of the population aged between 18 and 64 years has increased from 63.9% in 2001 to 65.2% in the current census. The greatest increase was recorded with respect to elderly people. While in the early 21st century, people over 64 years of age accounted for 16.8% of the Bulgarian population, now their share is already 18.9%.

Two-thirds of the population live in cities

Some 72.9% of the population live in cities but growth has been observed only in five regional centres. These are the cities of Sofia, Varna, Burgas, Veliko Tarnovo and Blagoevgrad. In 10 years, the population of the capital has increased by nearly 179,000 people and is currently 1,270,284 people. In the region of Plovdiv, the number of residents increased by 15,824 but in the city of Plovdiv these decreased by 6,428 people. In the region of Varna, 13,461 new residents have settled. There is no change in the ranking of Bulgaria’s 10 largest cities: Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Ruse, Stara Zagora, Pleven, Sliven, Dobrich, Shumen. Four times more people live in Sofia than in the second largest city of Plovdiv, which, in turn, has only 1,310 more inhabitants than the third largest city - Varna. The town of Sliven retains its eighth place in the ranking ahead of Dobrich having merely 376 more inhabitants.

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