Bulgaria's population has decreased by 564,331 people over ten years

Over the period 2001-2011, Bulgaria's population decreased by 564,331 people. Two-thirds of the decline of inhabitants was due to negative natural growth, while a third of the drop ensued from external migration, which was estimated at 175,244 people. The census results were presented yesterday by the Director of NSI (National Statistical Institute), Mariana Kotseva, together with a part of the Institute's management.

According to the final data from the census conducted in February, a total of 255 Bulgarian towns and 5,047 villages are inhabited by 7,364,570 people. Sofia has 1,204,685 citizens or 17.5% of the total population. One-third of it (33,6%) lives in the seven largest cities inhabited by over 100,000 residents.

The ratio between female and male inhabitants remains unchanged - total of 1,000 men to 1,053 women (48.7%compared to 51.3%).

Since 1990, there has been an ongoing clear-cut trend of demographic ageing and population decline, commented Mariana Kotseva. The proportion of people aged over 65 increased from16.8% in 2001 to 18.5% in 2011. In fact, while a decade ago, young people under 15 years of age were 15.3% of the population, in 2011 their share dropped to 13.2%.

There is also an alarming change in the coefficient of demographic replacement, showing the ratio of persons entering the working age group and those who turned 64 years of age, noted Finka Denkova, Head of the Demographic and Social Statistics Department. In 2001, every 100 people leaving the labour market corresponded to only 70 youths. Ten years earlier this ratio was 124.

There are no significant changes in the ratio of the main ethnic groups. Bulgarians are a total of 5,664,624 people, or 84,8 % of the population. As a proportion of the population over a decade, the number of Bulgarians has increased by 0.9%. The second largest ethnic group of our population, constituting 8.8%, is represented by 588,318 people who define themselves as Turks. Their relative share decreased by 0.6%, compared to 2001.

The Roma ethnic group is traditionally ranked third. In February, 325,343 citizens identified themselves as Roma people, or 4.9% of the population, thus marking a growth of 0.2% over a decade. As of March 1, 2001, the Roma ethnic group in Bulgaria comprised 370,908 people or 4.7%.
In February, NSI registered an unemployment rate of 15% on average.

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