In the month of September, Bulgarians completed 450 922 trips abroad, which represented an increase of 10.8 % compared to the same month in 2014.

This is shown by the latest figures of the National Statistical Institute (NSI) released on Tuesday.

There was an increase in the number of trips made by Bulgarians to the United Kingdom, France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Austria, Germany and Turkey.

At the same time, there was a drop in the number of trips to Israel, Russia, Serbia, Romania and Macedonia.

The greatest relative share of trips were made for other purposes (visiting friends and relatives, education, attending cultural and sports events), followed by holiday travel and excursions, and business trips.

Compared to September last year, there was an increase in the number of trips for other purposes and holiday travel and excursions, while the number of business trips decreased.

The majority of the trips to the UK (65.3 %) and Turkey (62.6 %) were made for other purposes, while business trips accounted for 47.8 % of all visits to Poland.

Holiday travel and excursions constituted more than half of the trips to Greece and Italy, respectively 57 % and 53 %.

Foreign citizens completed 1 055 863 trips to Bulgaria in September, which represented a decrease of 4.7 % compared to the same month last year.

There was a decrease in the number of trips for other purposes, holiday travel and excursions, and business trips.

The share of European Union (EU) citizens visiting Bulgaria accounted for 63.6 % of all trips completed by foreigners, which represented a decrease of 5.4 % compared to September 2014.

There was a decrease in the number of visits from Greece, the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom and Hungary.

At the same time there was an increase in the number of visits from Belgium, France, Italy, Poland, Spain and Austria.

A decrease of 4.5 % was registered in the number of trips made by citizens of other European countries, the greatest drop recorded in the number of visits from Russia.

Holiday travel and excursions constituted 46.9 % of all trips completed by foreigners, followed by trips for other purposes and business trips.

Holiday travel and excursions accounted for almost all visits by citizens of Israel and Russia, respectively 98.6 % and 89.1 %.

Business trips constituted 42.6 % of all visits by French citizens, while trips for other purposes accounted for the majority of visits from Romania (72.4 %) and Turkey (68%).