Place: | Bulgaria |
Size Of Population: | 6,445,481 (31st of December, 2023) [1] [2] |
Fertility: | 1.81 (2023) |
Age 0-14 Years: | 14.4% |
Age 15-64 Years: | 63.8% |
Age 65 Years: | 21.8% (2020) |
Sr Total Mf Ratio: | 0.84 male(s)/female (2009) |
Sr At Birth: | 1.06 male(s)/female |
Sr Under 15: | 1.05 male(s)/female |
Sr 15-64 Years: | 0.97 male(s)/female |
Sr 65 Years Over: | 0.68 male(s)/female |
Nation: | noun: Bulgarian(s) adjective: Bulgarian |
Major Ethnic: | Bulgarian (84.8%) |
Minor Ethnic: | Turkish/ Balkan Gagauz (8.8%) Roma (4.9%) Other and unknown (1.5%) |
Official: | Bulgarian (85.2%) |
The demography of the Republic of Bulgaria is monitored by the National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria. Demographic features of the population of Bulgaria include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and others.
Bulgaria has a Human Development Index of 0.799, ranking 70th in the world in 2022[3] and holds the 38th position in Newsweeks rankings of the world's best countries to live in, measuring health, education, political environment and economic dynamism.[4]
Various estimates have put Bulgaria's medieval population at 1.1 million in 700 AD and 2.6 million in 1365.[5] At the 2011 census, the population inhabiting Bulgaria was 7,364,570 in total, but the 2021 Census calculated that the population had declined to 6.5 million.[6] [7] The peak was in 1989, the year when the borders opened after a half of a century of communist regime, when the population numbered 9,009,018.
Note: Crude migration change (per 1000) is an extrapolation [8]
The total fertility rate is the number of children born per woman. It is based on fairly good data for the entire period. Sources: Our World in Data and Gapminder Foundation.
Average population | Live births | Deaths | Natural change | Crude birth rate (per 1000) | Crude death rate (per 1000) | Natural change (per 1000) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1900 | 3,710,000 | 157,000 | 84,000 | 73,000 | 42.3 | 22.6 | 19.7 | |
1901 | 3,740,000 | 141,000 | 87,000 | 54,000 | 37.7 | 23.3 | 14.4 | |
1902 | 3,800,000 | 149,000 | 91,000 | 58,000 | 39.2 | 23.9 | 15.3 | |
1903 | 3,850,000 | 159,000 | 88,000 | 71,000 | 41.3 | 22.9 | 18.4 | |
1904 | 3,910,000 | 167,000 | 84,000 | 83,000 | 42.7 | 21.5 | 21.2 | |
1905 | 4,000,000 | 174,000 | 87,000 | 87,000 | 43.5 | 21.8 | 21.8 | |
1906 | 4,100,000 | 179,000 | 91,000 | 88,000 | 43.7 | 22.2 | 21.5 | |
1907 | 4,150,000 | 180,000 | 92,000 | 88,000 | 43.4 | 22.2 | 21.2 | |
1908 | 4,200,000 | 169,000 | 102,000 | 67,000 | 40.2 | 24.3 | 16.0 | |
1909 | 4,280,000 | 173,000 | 113,000 | 60,000 | 40.4 | 26.4 | 14.0 | |
1910 | 4,350,000 | 180,000 | 100,000 | 80,000 | 41.4 | 23.0 | 18.4 | |
1911 | 4,400,000 | 176,000 | 94,000 | 82,000 | 40.0 | 21.4 | 18.6 | |
1912 | 4,430,000 | 185,000 | 91,000 | 94,000 | 41.8 | 20.5 | 21.2 | |
1913 | 4,200,000 | 108,000 | 122,000 | -14,000 | 25.7 | 29.0 | -3.3 | |
1914 | 4,240,000 | 191,000 | 88,000 | 103,000 | 45.0 | 20.8 | 24.3 | |
1915 | 4,280,000 | 172,000 | 85,000 | 87,000 | 40.2 | 19.9 | 20.3 |
Average population | Live births | Deaths | Natural change | Crude birth rate (per 1000) | Crude death rate (per 1000) | Natural change (per 1000) | Total fertility rates | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1916 | 4,660,000 | 99,000 | 97,000 | 2,000 | 21.2 | 20.8 | 0.4 | 5.38 | |
1917 | 4,690,000 | 81,000 | 99,000 | -18,000 | 17.3 | 21.1 | -3.8 | 5.37 | |
1918 | 4,740,000 | 100,000 | 152,000 | -52,000 | 21.1 | 32.1 | -11.0 | 5.36 | |
1919 | 4,790,000 | 157,000 | 97,000 | 60,000 | 32.8 | 20.3 | 12.5 | 5.35 | |
1920 | 4,850,000 | 193,000 | 104,000 | 89,000 | 39.8 | 21.4 | 18.4 | 5.35 | |
1921 | 4,890,000 | 197,000 | 106,000 | 91,000 | 40.3 | 21.7 | 18.6 | 5.27 | |
1922 | 5,010,000 | 203,000 | 106,000 | 97,000 | 40.5 | 21.2 | 19.4 | 5.19 | |
1923 | 5,090,000 | 192,000 | 108,000 | 84,000 | 37.7 | 21.2 | 16.5 | 5.11 | |
1924 | 5,210,000 | 207,000 | 108,000 | 99,000 | 39.7 | 20.7 | 19.0 | 5.03 | |
1925 | 5,310,000 | 196,000 | 102,000 | 94,000 | 36.9 | 19.2 | 17.7 | 4.94 | |
1926 | 5,420,000 | 203,000 | 93,000 | 110,000 | 37.5 | 17.2 | 20.3 | 4.80 | |
1927 | 5,510,000 | 183,000 | 112,000 | 71,000 | 33.2 | 20.3 | 12.9 | 4.65 | |
1928 | 5,590,000 | 185,000 | 99,000 | 86,000 | 33.1 | 17.7 | 15.4 | 4.50 | |
1929 | 5,670,000 | 173,000 | 103,000 | 70,000 | 30.5 | 18.2 | 12.3 | 4.36 | |
1930 | 5,740,000 | 180,000 | 93,000 | 87,000 | 31.4 | 16.2 | 15.2 | 4.05 | |
1931 | 5,800,000 | 171,000 | 98,000 | 73,000 | 29.5 | 16.9 | 12.6 | 3.80 | |
1932 | 5,884,000 | 186,000 | 96,000 | 90,000 | 31.6 | 16.3 | 15.3 | 4.07 | |
1933 | 5,961,000 | 174,000 | 93,000 | 81,000 | 29.2 | 15.6 | 13.6 | 3.76 | |
1934 | 6,039,000 | 181,795 | 85,046 | 96,749 | 30.1 | 14.1 | 16.0 | 3.88 | |
1935 | 6,102,000 | 160,951 | 89,086 | 71,865 | 26.4 | 14.6 | 11.8 | 3.39 | |
1936 | 6,154,000 | 159,146 | 87,723 | 71,423 | 25.9 | 14.3 | 11.6 | 3.33 | |
1937 | 6,196,000 | 150,771 | 84,674 | 66,097 | 24.3 | 13.7 | 10.7 | 3.12 | |
1938 | 6,244,000 | 142,415 | 85,373 | 57,042 | 22.8 | 13.7 | 9.1 | 2.92 | |
1939 | 6,292,000 | 138,883 | 84,150 | 54,733 | 22.1 | 13.4 | 8.7 | 2.81 | |
1940 | 6,341,000 | 140,564 | 85,046 | 55,518 | 22.2 | 13.4 | 8.8 | 2.84 |
Source: National Statistical Institute[12] [13]
Average population (from 2002 population on December 31) | Live births | Deaths | Natural change | Crude birth rate (per 1000) | Crude death rate (per 1000) | Natural change (per 1000) | Total fertility rates | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1941 | 6,715,100 | 147,293 | 85,011 | 62,282 | 21.9 | 12.7 | 9.3 | 2.80 |
1942 | 6,771,100 | 153,272 | 88,082 | 65,190 | 22.6 | 13.0 | 9.6 | 2.91 |
1943 | 6,827,600 | 148,840 | 88,386 | 60,454 | 21.8 | 13.0 | 8.9 | 2.79 |
1944 | 6,884,600 | 151,013 | 94,082 | 56,931 | 22.0 | 13.7 | 8.3 | 2.83 |
1945 | 6,942,200 | 166,960 | 103,591 | 63,369 | 24.1 | 14.9 | 9.1 | 3.09 |
1946 | 7,000,200 | 179,226 | 95,799 | 83,427 | 25.6 | 13.7 | 11.9 | 3.29 |
1947 | 7,063,700 | 169,501 | 94,395 | 75,106 | 24.0 | 13.4 | 10.7 | 3.06 |
1948 | 7,130,100 | 175,771 | 89,927 | 85,844 | 24.7 | 12.6 | 12.0 | 3.16 |
1949 | 7,195,100 | 177,734 | 84,675 | 93,059 | 24.7 | 11.8 | 12.9 | 3.17 |
1950 | 7,251,000 | 182,571 | 74,134 | 108,437 | 25.2 | 10.2 | 15.0 | 2.94 |
1951 | 7,258,200 | 152,803 | 77,364 | 75,439 | 21.1 | 10.7 | 10.4 | 2.45 |
1952 | 7,274,900 | 154,014 | 84,254 | 69,760 | 21.2 | 11.6 | 9.6 | 2.44 |
1953 | 7,346,100 | 153,220 | 68,055 | 85,165 | 20.9 | 9.3 | 11.6 | 2.41 |
1954 | 7,423,300 | 149,902 | 68,384 | 81,518 | 20.2 | 9.2 | 11.0 | 2.36 |
1955 | 7,499,400 | 150,978 | 67,960 | 83,018 | 20.1 | 9.1 | 11.1 | 2.41 |
1956 | 7,575,800 | 147,910 | 71,153 | 76,757 | 19.5 | 9.4 | 10.1 | 2.36 |
1957 | 7,651,300 | 141,035 | 65,807 | 75,228 | 18.4 | 8.6 | 9.8 | 2.26 |
1958 | 7,727,600 | 138,294 | 60,734 | 77,560 | 17.9 | 7.9 | 10.0 | 2.23 |
1959 | 7,797,800 | 136,892 | 73,850 | 63,042 | 17.5 | 9.4 | 8.1 | 2.23 |
1960 | 7,867,374 | 140,082 | 63,665 | 76,417 | 17.7 | 8.1 | 9.7 | 2.31 |
1961 | 7,943,118 | 137,861 | 62,562 | 75,299 | 17.3 | 7.8 | 9.4 | 2.29 |
1962 | 8,012,946 | 134,148 | 69,640 | 64,508 | 16.7 | 8.7 | 8.0 | 2.24 |
1963 | 8,078,145 | 132,143 | 66,057 | 66,086 | 16.3 | 8.1 | 8.1 | 2.21 |
1964 | 8,144,340 | 130,958 | 64,479 | 66,479 | 16.0 | 7.9 | 8.2 | 2.19 |
1965 | 8,204,168 | 125,791 | 66,970 | 58,821 | 15.3 | 8.1 | 7.2 | 2.09 |
1966 | 8,258,057 | 123,039 | 68,366 | 54,673 | 14.9 | 8.3 | 6.6 | 2.03 |
1967 | 8,310,226 | 124,582 | 74,696 | 49,886 | 14.9 | 9.0 | 6.0 | 2.02 |
1968 | 8,369,603 | 141,460 | 72,176 | 69,284 | 16.8 | 8.6 | 8.2 | 2.27 |
1969 | 8,434,172 | 143,060 | 80,183 | 62,877 | 16.9 | 9.5 | 7.5 | 2.27 |
1970 | 8,489,574 | 138,745 | 77,095 | 61,650 | 16.3 | 9.1 | 7.2 | 2.17 |
1971 | 8,536,395 | 135,422 | 82,805 | 52,617 | 15.8 | 9.7 | 6.2 | 2.10 |
1972 | 8,576,200 | 131,316 | 84,174 | 47,142 | 15.3 | 9.8 | 5.5 | 2.03 |
1973 | 8,620,967 | 139,713 | 81,470 | 58,243 | 16.2 | 9.4 | 6.8 | 2.15 |
1974 | 8,678,745 | 149,196 | 85,239 | 63,957 | 17.1 | 9.8 | 7.3 | 2.29 |
1975 | 8,720,742 | 144,668 | 89,974 | 54,694 | 16.6 | 10.3 | 6.3 | 2.23 |
1976 | 8,758,599 | 144,929 | 88,348 | 56,581 | 16.5 | 10.1 | 6.5 | 2.24 |
1977 | 8,804,183 | 141,702 | 94,362 | 47,340 | 16.1 | 10.7 | 5.4 | 2.21 |
1978 | 8,814,032 | 136,442 | 92,445 | 43,997 | 15.5 | 10.5 | 5.0 | 2.15 |
1979 | 8,825,940 | 135,358 | 94,403 | 40,955 | 15.3 | 10.7 | 4.6 | 2.16 |
1980 | 8,861,535 | 128,190 | 97,950 | 30,240 | 14.4 | 11.0 | 3.4 | 2.05 |
1981 | 8,891,117 | 124,372 | 95,441 | 28,931 | 14.0 | 10.7 | 3.2 | 2.00 |
1982 | 8,917,457 | 124,166 | 100,293 | 23,873 | 13.9 | 11.2 | 2.7 | 2.01 |
1983 | 8,939,738 | 122,993 | 102,182 | 20,811 | 13.7 | 11.4 | 2.3 | 2.01 |
1984 | 8,960,679 | 122,303 | 101,419 | 20,884 | 13.6 | 11.3 | 2.3 | 2.01 |
1985 | 8,960,547 | 118,955 | 107,485 | 11,470 | 13.3 | 12.0 | 1.3 | 1.97 |
1986 | 8,958,171 | 120,078 | 104,039 | 16,039 | 13.4 | 11.6 | 1.8 | 2.02 |
1987 | 8,971,359 | 116,672 | 107,213 | 9,459 | 13.0 | 11.9 | 1.1 | 1.96 |
1988 | 8,981,446 | 117,440 | 107,385 | 10,055 | 13.1 | 11.9 | 1.1 | 1.97 |
1989 | 8,876,972 | 112,289 | 106,902 | 5,387 | 12.8 | 12.2 | 0.6 | 1.90 |
1990 | 8,718,289 | 105,180 | 108,608 | -3,428 | 12.1 | 12.5 | -0.4 | 1.82 |
1991 | 8,632,367 | 95,910 | 110,423 | -14,513 | 11.2 | 12.8 | -1.7 | 1.66 |
1992 | 8,540,164 | 89,134 | 107,998 | -18,864 | 10.5 | 12.7 | -2.2 | 1.55 |
1993 | 8,472,313 | 84,400 | 109,540 | -25,140 | 10.0 | 12.9 | -3.0 | 1.46 |
1994 | 8,443,591 | 79,442 | 111,827 | -32,385 | 9.4 | 13.3 | -3.8 | 1.37 |
1995 | 8,406,067 | 71,967 | 114,670 | -42,703 | 8.6 | 13.7 | -5.1 | 1.23 |
1996 | 8,362,826 | 72,188 | 117,056 | -44,868 | 8.7 | 14.0 | -5.4 | 1.23 |
1997 | 8,312,068 | 64,125 | 121,861 | -57,736 | 7.7 | 14.7 | -6.9 | 1.09 |
1998 | 8,256,786 | 65,361 | 118,190 | -52,829 | 7.9 | 14.4 | -6.4 | 1.11 |
1999 | 8,210,624 | 72,290 | 111,786 | -39,496 | 8.8 | 13.6 | -4.8 | 1.23 |
2000 | 8,170,172 | 73,679 | 115,087 | -41,408 | 9.0 | 14.1 | -5.1 | 1.27 |
2001 | 7,913,300 | 68,180 | 112,368 | -44,188 | 8.5 | 14.0 | -5.5 | 1.24 |
2002[14] | 7,845,841 | 66,499 | 112,617 | -46,118 | 8.5 | 14.4 | -5.9 | 1.21 |
2003 | 7,801,273 | 67,359 | 111,927 | -44,568 | 8.7 | 14.4 | -5.7 | 1.23 |
2004 | 7,761,049 | 69,886 | 110,110 | -40,224 | 9.1 | 14.3 | -5.2 | 1.29 |
2005 | 7,718,750 | 71,075 | 113,374 | -42,299 | 9.3 | 14.8 | -5.5 | 1.31 |
2006 | 7,679,290 | 73,978 | 113,438 | -39,460 | 9.7 | 14.9 | -5.2 | 1.38 |
2007 | 7,640,200 | 75,349 | 113,004 | -37,655 | 10.0 | 15.0 | -5.0 | 1.42 |
2008 | 7,606,600 | 77,712 | 110,523 | -32,811 | 10.4 | 14.8 | -4.4 | 1.48 |
2009 | 7,563,710 | 80,956 | 108,068 | -27,112 | 10.9 | 14.5 | -3.6 | 1.57 |
2010 | 7,504,868 | 75,513 | 110,165 | -34,652 | 10.0 | 14.6 | -4.6 | 1.49 |
2011 | 7,327,224 | 70,846 | 108,258 | -37,412 | 9.6 | 14.7 | -5.1 | 1.51 |
2012 | 7,284,552 | 69,121 | 109,281 | -40,160 | 9.5 | 15.0 | -5.5 | 1.50 |
2013 | 7,245,677 | 66,578 | 104,345 | -37,767 | 9.2 | 14.4 | -5.2 | 1.48 |
2014 | 7,202,198 | 67,585 | 108,952 | -41,367 | 9.4 | 15.1 | -5.7 | 1.52 |
2015[15] | 7,153,784 | 65,950 | 110,117 | -44,167 | 9.2 | 15.3 | -6.2 | 1.53 |
2016[16] | 7,101,859 | 64,984 | 107,580 | -42,596 | 9.1 | 15.1 | -6.0 | 1.54 |
2017[17] | 7,050,034 | 63,955 | 109,791 | -45,836 | 9.0 | 15.5 | -6.5 | 1.56 |
2018[18] | 7,000,039 | 62,197 | 108,526 | -46,329 | 8.9 | 15.4 | -6.6 | 1.56 |
2019[19] | 6,951,482 | 61,538 | 108,083 | -46,545 | 8.8 | 15.5 | -6.7 | 1.58 |
2020[20] | 6,916,548 | 59,086 | 124,735 | -65,649 | 8.5 | 18.0 | -9.5 | 1.56 |
2021[21] | 6,838,937 | 58,678 | 148,995 | -90,317 | 9.0 | 22.9 | -13.9 | 1.58 |
2022[22] | 6,447,710 | 56,596 | 118,814 | -62,218 | 8.8 | 18.4 | -9.6 | 1.78[23] |
2023[24] | 6,403,901 | 57,197 | 101,006 | -43,809 | 8.9 | 15.7 | -6.8 | 1.81[25] |
Period | Live births | Deaths | Natural increase | |
---|---|---|---|---|
January - June 2023 | 24,071 | 41,949 | -17,878 | |
January - June 2024 | 23,686 | 46,278 | -22,592 | |
Difference | -385 (-1.6%) | +4,329 (+9.35%) | -4,714 |
The first reliable data about fertility and natural increase rates in the Bulgarian lands date back to the mid-1800s.
According to Turkish statistician Kemal Karpat, Non-Muslims, Bulgarians included, in the Ottoman Empire received a remarkable boost in fertility in the early 1830s. Their average growth rate climbed up to 2% per year, compared to zero among Muslims, who suffered from demographic stagnation.[27]
The same trend continued well after Bulgaria's Liberation from Ottoman rule in 1878.[28] Until the early 1890s, Muslim birth rates in Bulgaria hesitated in the low 20s, dwarfed by rates of + 40‰ among Orthodox Christians, while natural increase rates hovered around zero.[28] The ongoing Muslim demographic crisis and the heavy migration to Turkey were the two primary reasons for the rapid decrease in Bulgaria's Muslim and Turkish population between 1880 and 1910, from 28.7% in 1880 to 13.8% in 1910 for Muslims and from 26.2% to 10.7% for Turks.
Muslim birth and natural increase rates started climbing slowly from the late 1890s but only surpassed Orthodox ones in 1924. Nevertheless, it was not the Eastern Orthodox but rather Bulgaria's Roman Catholics that had the highest birth rate during the period, though usually offset by very high mortality rates.
Average Number of Births & Deaths, Average Birth Rate, Death Rate and Rate of Natural Increase in the Principality of Bulgaria by Period and Confession[28] [29] [30]
Confession | Live births per year | Birth rate | Deaths per year | Death rate | Rate of natural increase |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | ‰ | Number | ‰ | ‰ | |
104,749 | 40.1 | 78,165 | 30.0 | 10.1 | |
Muslims | 14,972 | 23.3 | 13,924 | 21.8 | 1.5 |
1,038 | 36.6 | 684 | 24.1 | ||
911 | 901 | ||||
210 | 31.6 | 173 | 26.2 | 5.4 | |
49 | 35 | 5.8 | |||
TOTAL | 121,929 | 36.7 | 93,883 | 28.4 | 8.3 |
Live births per year | Birth rate | Deaths per year | Death rate | Rate of natural increase |
---|---|---|---|---|
Number | ‰ | Number | ‰ | ‰ |
125,151 | 70,608 | 23.4 | 18.0 | |
20,071 | 31.2 | 15,786 | 24.5 | 6.7 |
1,295 | 38.5 | 551 | 16.4 | |
1,163 | 40.7 | 818 | 12.1 | |
383 | 27.7 | 298 | 21.6 | |
119 | 70 | 10.8 | ||
148,182 | 39.6 | 88,081 | 23.5 | 16.1 |
Live births per year | Birth rate | Deaths per year | Death rate | Rate of natural increase |
---|---|---|---|---|
Number | ‰ | Number | ‰ | ‰ |
148,076 | 44.2 | 72,816 | 21.8 | |
23,122 | 38.3 | 14,041 | 23.3 | 15.0 |
1,288 | 34.2 | 518 | 13.7 | 20.5 |
1,321 | 785 | 18.1 | ||
358 | 279 | 22.1 | ||
182 | 32.2 | 85 | 17.1 | |
174,347 | 43.2 | 88,524 | 21.9 | 21.3 |
Confession | Live births per year | Birth rate | Deaths per year | Death rate | Rate of natural increase |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | ‰ | Number | ‰ | ‰ | |
151,155 | 41.5 | 82,006 | 23.0 | ||
Muslims | 23,896 | 39.7 | 15,892 | 26.4 | 13.3 |
1,234 | 30.8 | 532 | 17.5 | ||
1,361 | 857 | 15.7 | |||
298 | 24.1 | 241 | 19.6 | ||
194 | 108 | 17.3 | 12.8 | ||
TOTAL | 178,138 | 41.1 | 99,636 | 23.0 | 18.1 |
Live births per year | Birth rate | Deaths per year | Death rate | Rate of natural increase |
---|---|---|---|---|
Number | ‰ | Number | ‰ | ‰ |
159,843 | 39.3 | 85,295 | 21.0 | 18.3 |
24,346 | 35.2 | 16,079 | 23.3 | 11.9 |
1,158 | 536 | 14.3 | ||
1,372 | 830 | 15.8 | ||
298 | 27.5 | 251 | 23.1 | |
198 | 35.3 | 92 | 16.4 | |
187,233 | 38.8 | 103,083 | 21.3 | 17.5 |
Live births per year | Birth rate | Deaths per year | Death rate | Rate of natural increase |
---|---|---|---|---|
Number | ‰ | Number | ‰ | ‰ |
156,839 | 34.3 | 82,220 | 18.0 | 16.3 |
31,575 | 17,458 | |||
1,032 | 515 | 11.1 | ||
1,566 | 38.8 | 878 | 21.7 | 17.1 |
646 | 25.5 | 434 | 17.1 | |
221 | 32.8 | 108 | 16.0 | 16.8 |
191,890 | 35.0 | 101,613 | 18.5 | 16.5 |
In the 1930s and 1940s, ethnic Bulgarians completed stage 2 of their demographic transition, and crude birth rate among them fell to a mere 23.3‰ by 1946, or twice as low as the birth rate of Bulgaria's two largest minorities, Turks (40.9‰) and Roma (47.2‰).[31] At the same time, due to higher mortality, the rate of natural increase among Bulgarian Turks was almost identical to that among ethnic Bulgarians (12.1‰ vs. 11.1‰), while the rate among the Romani was twice as high (23.1‰).[31]
A total of 64,984 live births were recorded in Bulgaria in 2016, giving the country a crude birth rate of 9.1‰.[32]
Bulgaria has a low total fertility rate of 1.58 children per woman (according to the 2021 Census). This is up significantly from the late 1990s, but still below replacement and not enough to prevent further population decline, especially with emigration. Provinces with large Roma populations (for example Sliven, Montana and Yambol) tend to have higher fertility rates (and higher death rates) compared to other areas, whereas Turkish fertility is similar to the Bulgarian majority.[33] The average number of (live births) children in 2021 was 1.47 for all women (aged 12 or more), ranging from 0.04 children for women between the ages of 12-19 to 1.92 children per women between the ages of 70-79. The distribution by ethnicity shows that only among women who identify themselves as belonging to the Roma ethnic group, the average number of children is sufficient for simple reproduction - 2.25 children, mainly because of the significantly younger age structure and low educational level of this group, followed by the Turkish ethnic group with 1.79 children and 1.41 children for women who self-identified as belonging to the Bulgarian ethnic.[34] The distribution of the average number of live births by religion changes from 1.83 children for Muslim women and 1.82 children for Protestant women, followed by 'other Christian' (1.63), Eastern Orthodox (1.43), Catholic (1.36), Jewish (1.27) and Armenian Apostolic (1.26). Women without religion had an average number of 1.40 children.
Province | TFR (2010) | TFR (2016) | TFR (2017) | TFR (2018) | TFR (2019) | TFR (2020) | TFR (2021) | TFR (2022) | TFR (2023) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Northwest Region | 1.53 | 1.72 | 1.72 | 1.75 | 1.77 | 1.75 | 1.73 | 1.92 | 1.94 | |
Vidin | 1.50 | 1.45 | 1.58 | 1.68 | 1.65 | 1.45 | 1.64 | 1.83 | 1.92 | |
Vratsa | 1.46 | 1.77 | 1.68 | 1.81 | 1.83 | 1.85 | 1.76 | 1.84 | 1.92 | |
Lovech | 1.58 | 1.66 | 1.79 | 1.89 | 1.84 | 1.91 | 1.88 | 2.11 | 2.06 | |
Montana | 1.52 | 1.74 | 1.65 | 1.67 | 1.62 | 1.63 | 1.73 | 1.87 | 1.91 | |
Pleven | 1.56 | 1.80 | 1.79 | 1.71 | 1.81 | 1.76 | 1.66 | 1.93 | 1.92 | |
North Central Region | 1.32 | 1.45 | 1.45 | 1.45 | 1.43 | 1.37 | 1.43 | 1.73 | 1.79 | |
Veliko Tarnovo | 1.19 | 1.40 | 1.43 | 1.34 | 1.27 | 1.25 | 1.35 | 1.69 | 1.74 | |
Gabrovo | 1.43 | 1.41 | 1.49 | 1.58 | 1.69 | 1.46 | 1.43 | 1.86 | 1.79 | |
Razgrad | 1.37 | 1.49 | 1.48 | 1.65 | 1.60 | 1.50 | 1.53 | 1.70 | 1.77 | |
Ruse | 1.34 | 1.40 | 1.37 | 1.41 | 1.30 | 1.34 | 1.40 | 1.60 | 1.71 | |
Silistra | 1.49 | 1.77 | 1.71 | 1.55 | 1.76 | 1.58 | 1.60 | 2.01 | 2.08 | |
Northeast Region | 1.53 | 1.50 | 1.48 | 1.49 | 1.52 | 1.45 | 1.46 | 1.75 | 1.76 | |
Varna | 1.57 | 1.45 | 1.44 | 1.44 | 1.47 | 1.49 | 1.49 | 1.68 | 1.64 | |
Dobrich | 1.44 | 1.53 | 1.51 | 1.44 | 1.56 | 1.44 | 1.37 | 1.78 | 1.94 | |
Targovishte | 1.67 | 1.59 | 1.57 | 1.63 | 1.61 | 1.41 | 1.46 | 1.91 | 1.93 | |
Shumen | 1.42 | 1.54 | 1.45 | 1.53 | 1.51 | 1.35 | 1.39 | 1.92 | 1.87 | |
Southeast Region | 1.67 | 1.82 | 1.88 | 1.84 | 1.87 | 1.82 | 1.82 | 2.01 | 2.14 | |
Burgas | 1.54 | 1.63 | 1.65 | 1.61 | 1.69 | 1.59 | 1.57 | 1.76 | 1.88 | |
Sliven | 1.95 | 2.24 | 2.34 | 2.27 | 2.35 | 2.24 | 2.29 | 2.57 | 2.60 | |
Stara Zagora | 1.64 | 1.73 | 1.80 | 1.76 | 1.72 | 1.73 | 1.73 | 1.84 | 2.05 | |
Yambol | 1.70 | 1.98 | 2,00 | 2.13 | 2.06 | 2.08 | 2.07 | 2.35 | 2.43 | |
Southwest Region | 1.42 | 1.36 | 1.38 | 1.38 | 1.42 | 1.44 | 1.47 | 1.59 | 1.62 | |
Blagoevgrad | 1.46 | 1.46 | 1.45 | 1.50 | 1.62 | 1.61 | 1.62 | 1.63 | 1.77 | |
Kyustendil | 1.33 | 1.63 | 1.75 | 1.76 | 1.95 | 1.77 | 1.76 | 1.82 | 1.81 | |
Pernik | 1.35 | 1.62 | 1.66 | 1.73 | 1.68 | 1.54 | 1.67 | 1.53 | 1.47 | |
Sofia | 1.45 | 1.74 | 1.73 | 1.80 | 1.91 | 1.90 | 1.92 | 1.90 | 1.98 | |
Sofia (city) | 1.39 | 1.27 | 1.29 | 1.26 | 1.28 | 1.33 | 1.36 | 1.51 | 1.53 | |
South Central Region | 1.50 | 1.61 | 1.65 | 1.65 | 1.66 | 1.59 | 1.59 | 1.82 | 1.88 | |
Kardzhali | 1.49 | 1.64 | 1.66 | 1.70 | 1.74 | 1.49 | 1.31 | 1.78 | 1.89 | |
Pazardzhik | 1.58 | 1.72 | 1.75 | 1.85 | 1.81 | 1.70 | 1.57 | 2.02 | 2.22 | |
Plovdiv | 1.49 | 1.56 | 1.60 | 1.61 | 1.60 | 1.58 | 1.63 | 1.82 | 1.84 | |
Smolyan | 1.33 | 1.45 | 1.47 | 1.40 | 1.49 | 1.49 | 1.48 | 1.33 | 1.45 | |
Haskovo | 1.53 | 1.70 | 1.75 | 1.62 | 1.71 | 1.59 | 1.63 | 1.82 | 1.83 | |
1.49 | 1.54 | 1.56 | 1.56 | 1.58 | 1.56 | 1.58 | 1.78 | 1.81 |
As of 2022, the municipality of Tvarditsa has the highest crude birth rate in the country, at 18.4‰, followed by the municipalities of Yablanitsa (17.9‰) and Nikolaevo Municipality (17.2‰). All these municipalities have relatively large Romani populations.
Top 20 municipalities with the highest birth rate (2021)[37] [38] | ||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Municipality | Birth rate (‰) | |||||||||||||||||
18.4 | ||||||||||||||||||
17.9 | ||||||||||||||||||
17.2 | ||||||||||||||||||
16.1 | ||||||||||||||||||
15.1 | ||||||||||||||||||
14.6 | ||||||||||||||||||
14.6 | ||||||||||||||||||
13.6 | ||||||||||||||||||
13.0 | ||||||||||||||||||
12.5 | ||||||||||||||||||
12.5 | ||||||||||||||||||
12.4 | ||||||||||||||||||
12.4 | ||||||||||||||||||
12.3 | ||||||||||||||||||
12.2 | ||||||||||||||||||
12.2 | ||||||||||||||||||
12.1 | ||||||||||||||||||
12.1 | ||||||||||||||||||
12.0 | ||||||||||||||||||
12.0 | ||||||||||||||||||
Top 20 municipalities with the lowest birth rate (2017)[39] | ||||||||||||||||||
5.7 | ||||||||||||||||||
5.6 | ||||||||||||||||||
5.6 | ||||||||||||||||||
5.5 | ||||||||||||||||||
5.5 | ||||||||||||||||||
5.5 | ||||||||||||||||||
5.4 | ||||||||||||||||||
5.3 | ||||||||||||||||||
5.0 | ||||||||||||||||||
4.9 | ||||||||||||||||||
4.9 | ||||||||||||||||||
4.8 | ||||||||||||||||||
4.7 | ||||||||||||||||||
4.5 | ||||||||||||||||||
4.4 | ||||||||||||||||||
4.2 | ||||||||||||||||||
4.0 | ||||||||||||||||||
3.8 | ||||||||||||||||||
3.2 | ||||||||||||||||||
3.1 |
Bulgaria has one of the highest share of teenage pregnancy in Europe. Nevertheless, this number declined rapidly between 1995 and 2010, until it stabilized at around 10%.
Number of teenage mothers in Bulgaria in the period 1990-2022[40] | ||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | 1990 | 1995 | 2000 | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | 2017 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | ||||||||
All live births in Bulgaria | 105,180 | 71,967 | 73,679 | 69,886 | 75,513 | 65,950 | 63,955 | 59,086 | 58,678 | 56,596 | ||||||||
Mothers aged under twenty | 22,518 | 16,278 | 12,787 | 10,625 | 8,411 | 6,274 | 6,038 | 5,970 | 5,861 | 5,769 | ||||||||
Share of teenage mothers | 21.4% | 22.6% | 17.4% | 15.2% | 11.1% | 9.5% | 9.4% | 10.1% | 10.0% | 10.2% |
The ten municipalities with the largest absolute number of teenage mothers for 2022 are: Sliven (371), Sofia (345), Plovdiv (196), Pazardzhik (130), Yambol (123), Nova Zagora (121), Burgas (108), Pleven (110), Tvarditsa (98), Stara Zagora, Varna (83) and Haskovo (81).[40]
Top ten municipalities with the highest share of mothers aged under twenty (2022) | ||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Municipality | All live births | Births to mothers aged under twenty | % of all live births | |||||||||||||||
54 | 25 | 46.3% | ||||||||||||||||
78 | 33 | 43.3% | ||||||||||||||||
75 | 32 | 42.7% | ||||||||||||||||
99 | 40 | 40.4% | ||||||||||||||||
243 | 98 | 40.4% | ||||||||||||||||
63 | 25 | 39.7% | ||||||||||||||||
127 | 47 | 37.0% | ||||||||||||||||
101 | 36 | 35.6% | ||||||||||||||||
118 | 41 | 34.7% | ||||||||||||||||
371 | 121 | 32.6% |
Total population: 74.83 years
Male: 71.37 years
Female: 78.39 years (2016-2018 est.)[41]
Average life expectancy at age 0 of the total population.[42]
Period | Life expectancy in Years | |
---|---|---|
1950–1955 | 62.33 | |
1955–1960 | 66.78 | |
1960–1965 | 70.28 | |
1965–1970 | 70.91 | |
1970–1975 | 71.07 | |
1975–1980 | 71.10 | |
1980–1985 | 71.24 | |
1985–1990 | 71.39 | |
1990–1995 | 71.11 | |
1995–2000 | 70.97 | |
2000–2005 | 72.19 | |
2005–2010 | 73.13 | |
2010–2015 | 74.25 | |
2016–2018 | 74.83 |
Total: 5.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2018)
Male: 6.2 deaths/1,000 live births (2018)
Female: 5.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2018)
The following forecast for the future population is an official estimate of the National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria.[44]
Year | Population | |
2025 | 6,263,384 | |
2030 | 6,007,657 | |
2035 | 5,801,261 | |
2040 | 5,637,361 | |
2045 | 5,505,143 | |
2050 | 5,391,291 | |
2055 | 5,287,150 | |
2060 | 5,189,165 | |
2065 | 5,099,550 | |
2070 | 5,025,580 | |
2075 | 4,971,948 | |
2080 | 4,937,302 |
Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review.
Demographic statistics according to the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.
0-14 years: 14.6% (male 530,219 /female 500,398)
15-24 years: 9.43% (male 346,588 /female 318,645)
25-54 years: 43.12% (male 1,565,770 /female 1,477,719)
55-64 years: 13.3% (male 442,083 /female 496,888)
65 years and over: 19.54% (male 557,237 /female 821,957) (2018 est.)
Of the total 7,364,570 as of 2011, 3,586,571 are males and 3,777,999 are females, or there are 1,053 women for every 1,000 men.
The progressive decrease of the Bulgarian population is hindering economic growth and welfare improvement, and the management measures taken to mitigate the negative consequences do not address the essence of the problem. The Government Program for the period 2017 - 2021 is the first one that aims at overturning the trend. The program also identifies the priority means for achieving this goal: measures to increase the birth rate, reduce youth emigration, and build up regulatory and institutional capacity to implement a modern immigration policy tailored to the needs of the Bulgarian business.[45] [46]
Ethnic group | census 1900 | census 1905 | census 1910 | census 1920 | census 1926 | census 1934 | census 1946 | census 1956 | |||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | ||||||||||||
Bulgarians[47] | 2,888,219 | 77.1 | 3,203,810 | 79.4 | 3,518,756 | 81.1 | 4,036,056 | 83.3 | 4,557,706 | 83.2 | 5,204,217 | 85.6 | 5,903,580 | 84.0 | 6,506,541 | 85.5 | |||||||||||
Turks | 531,240 | 14.2 | 488,010 | 12.1 | 465,641 | 10.7 | 520,339 | 10.7 | 577,552 | 10.5 | 591,193 | 9.7 | 675,500 | 9.6 | 656,025 | 8.6 | |||||||||||
Roma | 89,549 | 2.4 | 99,004 | 2.5 | 122,296 | 2.8 | 98,451 | 2.0 | 134,844 | 2.5 | 149,385 | 2.5 | 170,011 | 2.4 | 197,8651 | 2.6 | |||||||||||
Romanians | 71,063 | 1.9 | 75,773 | 1.9 | 79,429 | 1.8 | 57,312 | 1.2 | 69,080 | 1.2 | 16,504 | 0.3 | 2,459 | 0.0 | 3,749 | 0.0 | |||||||||||
Greeks | 66,635 | 1.8 | 63,487 | 1.6 | 43,275 | 1.0 | 42,074 | 0.9 | 10,564 | 0.2 | 9,601 | 0.2 | 3,623 | 0.0 | 7,437 | 0.1 | |||||||||||
Jews | 33,661 | 0.9 | 37,663 | 0.9 | 40,133 | 0.9 | 43,209 | 0.9 | 46,558 | 0.8 | 48,565 | 0.8 | 44,209 | 0.6 | 6,027 | 0.1 | |||||||||||
Tatars | 18,884 | 0.5 | 17,942 | 0.4 | 18,228 | 0.4 | 4,905 | 0.1 | 6,191 | 0.1 | 8,133 | 0.1 | 5,993 | 0.1 | |||||||||||||
Armenians | 14,581 | 0.4 | 14,178 | 0.4 | 12,932 | 0.3 | 11,509 | 0.2 | 27,332 | 0.5 | 25,963 | 0.4 | 21,637 | 0.3 | 21,954 | 0.3 | |||||||||||
Gagauzes | 10,175 | 0.3 | 9,329 | 0.2 | 3,669 | 0.1 | 4,362 | 0.1 | |||||||||||||||||||
Sarakatsani3 | 6,128 | 0.2 | 7,251 | 0.2 | 3,075 | 0.1 | 2,866 | 0.0 | 2,085 | 0.0 | |||||||||||||||||
Russians | 1,685 | 0.0 | 3,275 | 0.2 | 2,505 | 0.2 | 9,080 | 0.2 | 19,706 | 0.4 | 11,928 | 0.2 | 13,200 | 0.2 | 10,551 | 0.1 | |||||||||||
Macedonians[48] | - | - | - | - | - | - | 169,5442 | 2.4 | 187,7892 | 2.5 | |||||||||||||||||
Others | 15,602 | 0.2 | 13,199 | 0.2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Undeclared | 0 | - | 0 | - | 0 | - | 0 | - | 0 | - | 0 | - | 0 | - | 0 | - | |||||||||||
Total | 3,744,283 | 4,035,575 | 4,337,513 | 4,846,971 | 5,528,741 | 6,077,939 | 7,029,349 | 7,613,709 | |||||||||||||||||||
Ethnic group | census 1965 | census 1975 | census 19851 | census 1992[49] | census 2001[50] | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | ||||
Bulgarians | 7,231,243 | 87.9 | 7,930,024 | 90.9 | 7,271,185 | 85.7 | 6,655,210 | 83.9 | |||||
Turks | 780,928 | 9.5 | 730,728 | 8.4 | 800,052 | 9.4 | 746,664 | 9.4 | |||||
Roma | 148,8742 | 1.8 | 18,3232 | 0.2 | 313,396 | 3.7 | 370,908 | 4.7 | |||||
Armenians | 20,282 | 0.2 | 14,526 | 0.2 | 13,677 | 0.2 | 10,832 | 0.1 | |||||
Russians | 10,815 | 0.1 | 17,139 | 0.2 | 15,595 | 0.2 | |||||||
"Vlachs" | 5,159 | 0.1 | 10,566 | 0.1 | |||||||||
Sarakatsani3 | 5,144 | 0.1 | 4,107 | 0.1 | |||||||||
Ukrainians | 1,864 | 0.0 | 2,489 | 0.0 | |||||||||
Macedonians | 9,632 | 0.1 | 10,803 | 0.1 | 5,071 | 0.1 | |||||||
Greeks | 8,241 | 0.1 | 4,930 | 0.1 | 3,408 | 0.0 | |||||||
Jews | 5,108 | 0.1 | 3,076 | 3,461 | 0.0 | 1,363 | 0.0 | ||||||
Romanians | 2,491 | 0.0 | 1,088 | 0.0 | |||||||||
Tatars | 6,430 | 0.1 | 5,963 | 0.1 | 4,515 | 0.1 | 1,803 | 0.0 | |||||
Gagauzes | 1,478 | 0.0 | 540 | 0.0 | |||||||||
Others | 25,131 | 0.3 | 23,542 | 0.3 | 12,342 | 0.2 | |||||||
Undeclared | 0 | 0 | 8,481 | 0.1 | 62,108 | 0.8 | |||||||
Unshown | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24,807 | 0.3 | ||||||||
Total | 8,227,966 | 8,727,771 | 8,948,649 | 8,487,317 | 7,932,984 | ||||||||
census 2011 | census 2021[51] [52] | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | % | Number | % | ||||||||||
Bulgarians | 5,664,624 | 76.92 | 5,118,494 | 78.51 | |||||||||
Turks | 588,318 | 7.99 | 508,378 | 7.80 | |||||||||
Roma | 325,343 | 4.42 | 266,720 | 4.09 | |||||||||
Russians | 9,978 | 0.14 | 14,218 | 0.22 | |||||||||
Armenians | 6,552 | 0.09 | 5,306 | 0.08 | |||||||||
"Vlachs" | 3,684 | 0.05 | 1,643 | 0.03 | |||||||||
Sarakatsani | 2,556 | 0.03 | 2,071 | 0.03 | |||||||||
Ukrainians | 1,789 | 0.02 | 3,239 | 0.05 | |||||||||
Macedonians | 1,654 | 0.02 | 1,143 | 0.02 | |||||||||
Greeks | 1,379 | 0.02 | 1,625 | 0.02 | |||||||||
Jews | 1,162 | 0.02 | 1,153 | 0.02 | |||||||||
Romanians | 891 | 0.01 | 683 | 0.01 | |||||||||
Tatars | 1,129 | 0.2 | |||||||||||
Gagauzes | 40 | 0.0 | |||||||||||
Others | 19,659 | 0.27 | 46,7962 | 0.62 | |||||||||
Undeclared | 736,981 | 10.00 | style="text-align:right;" | - | 79,513 | 1.22 | - | ||||||
No return/Data borrowed from administrative sources | - | - | style="text-align:center; background:#DCDCDC;" | - | 467,678 | 7.1 | - | ||||||
Total | 7,364,570 | 6,519,789 | |||||||||||
1 Percentages in parentheses are calculated only based on the number of people who answered the ethnicity question (6,680,980 for 2011 and 6,052,111 for 2021) and do not cover people whose data has been collected from administrative databases. 2Includes, among other things, 2,894 Englishmen, 865 Italians, 824 Poles, etc. etc. |
Province | Bulgarian | Turkish | Romani | Other | Undeclared | Unknown1, 2 | Total | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | ||||
236,951 | 81.9 | 14,028 | 4.8 | 12,138 | 4.2 | 11,197 | 3.8 | 3,768 | 1.3 | 13,965 | 4.8 | 292,227 | 100.0 | ||||
280,388 | 73.7 | 47,286 | 12.4 | 14,893 | 3.9 | 5,992 | 1.6 | 5,805 | 1.5 | 25,922 | 6.8 | 380,286 | 100.0 | ||||
109,041 | 72.6 | 18,835 | 12.5 | 10,118 | 6.8 | 2,035 | 1.4 | 1,304 | 1.3 | 8,813 | 5.9 | 150,146 | 100.0 | ||||
89,394 | 90.9 | 4,723 | 4.8 | 792 | 0.8 | 735 | 0.7 | 1,068 | 1.1 | 1,675 | 1.9 | 98,387 | 100.0 | ||||
154,088 | 72.8 | 25,555 | 12.1 | 12,572 | 5.9 | 1,764 | 0.8 | 2,254 | 1.1 | 15,332 | 7.2 | 211,565 | 100.0 | ||||
37,383 | 26.5 | 83,280 | 59.0 | 1,354 | 1.0 | 2,130 | 1.5 | 4,909 | 3.5 | 12,121 | 8.6 | 141,177 | 100.0 | ||||
101,735 | 91.0 | 56 | 0.0 | 6,555 | 5.9 | 329 | 0.3 | 509 | 0.5 | 2,552 | 2.3 | 111,736 | 100.0 | ||||
103,484 | 88.9 | 2,789 | 2.4 | 4,999 | 4.3 | 407 | 0.3 | 2,202 | 1.9 | 2,513 | 2.2 | 116,394 | 100.0 | ||||
99,539 | 83.0 | 136 | 0.1 | 13,130 | 10.9 | 381 | 0.3 | 984 | 0.8 | 5,780 | 4.8 | 119,950 | 100.0 | ||||
184,677 | 80.4 | 6,782 | 3.0 | 14,320 | 6.2 | 4,686 | 2.0 | 2,189 | 1.0 | 17,160 | 7.5 | 229,814 | 100.0 | ||||
107,459 | 94.1 | 128 | 0.1 | 3,554 | 3.1 | 388 | 0.3 | 718 | 0.6 | 1,925 | 1.7 | 114,162 | 100.0 | ||||
200,197 | 88.5 | 5,367 | 2.4 | 6,999 | 3.1 | 937 | 0.4 | 1,829 | 0.8 | 10,791 | 4.8 | 226,120 | 100.0 | ||||
513,249 | 80.9 | 39,585 | 6.2 | 26,296 | 4.1 | 5,004 | 0.8 | 8,134 | 1.3 | 42,229 | 6.7 | 634,497 | 100.0 | ||||
38,873 | 37.7 | 49,318 | 47.8 | 5,806 | 5.6 | 1,957 | 1.9 | 1,915 | 1.9 | 5,363 | 5.2 | 103,223 | 100.0 | ||||
148,845 | 76.9 | 23,958 | 12.4 | 7,041 | 3.6 | 2,060 | 1.1 | 2,315 | 1.2 | 9,264 | 4.8 | 193,483 | 100.0 | ||||
81,907 | 54.1 | 44,263 | 29.2 | 11,268 | 7.4 | 2,118 | 1.4 | 1,872 | 1.2 | 10,037 | 6.6 | 151,465 | 100.0 | ||||
51,579 | 52.8 | 34,392 | 35.7 | 5,244 | 5.4 | 694 | 0.7 | 793 | 0.8 | 5,068 | 5.2 | 97,770 | 100.0 | ||||
115,607 | 66.9 | 13,217 | 7.7 | 23,918 | 13.9 | 1,861 | 1.1 | 1,691 | 1.0 | 16,396 | 9.5 | 172,690 | 100.0 | ||||
86,818 | 90.2 | 3,049 | 3.2 | 483 | 0.5 | 3,589 | 3.7 | 1,609 | 1.7 | 736 | 0.73 | 96,284 | 100.0 | ||||
Sofia City | 1,058,553 | 83.1 | 5,881 | 0.5 | 13,960 | 1.1 | 13,766 | 1.1 | 16,086 | 1.2 | 166,044 | 13.0 | 1,274,290 | 100.0 | |||
204,662 | 88.2 | 342 | 0.1 | 11,380 | 4.9 | 742 | 0.3 | 1,459 | 0.6 | 13,404 | 5.8 | 231,989 | 100.0 | ||||
239,770 | 80.9 | 12,170 | 4.1 | 18,158 | 6.1 | 2,465 | 0.8 | 2,929 | 1.0 | 21,015 | 7.1 | 296,507 | 100.0 | ||||
46,455 | 47.3 | 34,279 | 34.9 | 5,980 | 6.1 | 2,828 | 2.9 | 2,091 | 2.1 | 6,061 | 6.2 | 98,144 | 100.0 | ||||
352,886 | 81.6 | 25,678 | 5.9 | 9,634 | 2.2 | 7,664 | 1.8 | 6,187 | 1.4 | 30,149 | 7.0 | 432,198 | 100.0 | ||||
178,491 | 86.1 | 11,348 | 5.5 | 3,655 | 1.8 | 1,652 | 0.8 | 2,314 | 1.1 | 9,911 | 4.8 | 207,371 | 100.0 | ||||
68,143 | 90.4 | 65 | 0.0 | 5,055 | 6.7 | 345 | 0.5 | 306 | 0.4 | 1,494 | 2.0 | 75,408 | 100.0 | ||||
137,587 | 90.0 | 424 | 0.3 | 10,132 | 6.6 | 444 | 0.3 | 1,629 | 1.1 | 2,587 | 1.7 | 152,813 | 100.0 | ||||
90,733 | 82.7 | 994 | 0.9 | 7,116 | 6.5 | 836 | 0.8 | 643 | 0.6 | 9,371 | 8.5 | 109,693 | 100.0 | ||||
Republic of Bulgaria | 5,118,494 | 78.5 | 508,378 | 7.8 | 266,720 | 4.1 | 79,006 | 1.2 | 79,513 | 1.2 | 467,678 | 7.2 | 6,519,789 | 100.0 | |||
See main article: Languages of Bulgaria.
Mother tongue | census 1880[54] [55] | census 1887[56] | census 1892[57] | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | ||
Bulgarian | 1,345,507 | 67.0 | 2,326,250 | 73.7 | 2,505,326 | 75.7 | |
Turkish/Gagauz | 527,284 | 26.3 | 607,331 | 19.3 | 569,728 | 17.2 | |
"Vlach" | 49,070 | 2.4 | |||||
Romanian | 62,628 | 1.9 | |||||
Roma | 37,600 | 1.9 | 50,291 | 1.6 | 52,132 | 1.6 | |
Ladino | 14,020 | 0.7 | 27,531 | 0.8 | |||
Tatar | 12,376 | 0.6 | 16,290 | 0.5 | |||
Greek | 11,152 | 0.6 | 58,326 | 1.8 | 58,518 | 1.8 | |
Armenian | 3,837 | 6,445 | 0.2 | ||||
Serbo-Croatian | 1,894 | ||||||
Serbian | 818 | ||||||
German/Yiddish | 1,280 | ||||||
German | 3,620 | ||||||
Russian | 1,123 | 928 | |||||
Albanian | 530 | ||||||
Italian | 515 | 803 | |||||
Hungarian | 220 | ||||||
Czech | 174 | ||||||
French | 164 | 356 | |||||
Arabic | 97 | ||||||
Polish | 92 | ||||||
English | 64 | ||||||
Circassian | 63 | ||||||
Persian | 58 | ||||||
Others | 402 | 4,425 | |||||
Unknown | 1,165 | ||||||
Total | 2,007,919 | 3 154 375 | 3,310,713 | ||||
Territory (km2) | 63,752 | 95,223 | 95,223 |
See main article: Religion in Bulgaria.
Bulgaria's traditional religion according to the constitution is the Orthodox Christianity, while Bulgaria is a secular state too. Since the last two censuses (2001 and 2011) provide widely divergent results, they are both shown in the table below. It is noteworthy that over a fifth of the population chose not to respond to this question in the 2011 census.
2001[59] | 2011[60] | ||
Orthodox Christian | 82.6% | 59.4% | |
Muslim | 12.2% | 7.8% (7.4% Sunni; 0.4% Shia) | |
Catholic | 0.6% | 0.7% | |
Protestant | 0.5% | 0.9% | |
Other | 0.2% | 0.15% | |
None | 3.9% | 9.3% | |
No response | - | 21.8% |
The results of the Bulgarian 2011 Census, in which the indication of answer regarding the question for confession was optional, are as follows:[61]
Group | Population | % of declared | % of total | |
---|---|---|---|---|
4,374,135 | 76.0% | 59.4% | ||
Undeclared | 1,606,269 | - | 21.8% | |
682,162 | 11.8% | 9.3% | ||
577,139 | 10.0% | 7.8% | ||
64,476 | 1.1% | 0.9% | ||
48,945 | 0.8% | 0.7% | ||
1,715 | 0.0% | 0.0% | ||
Jews | 706 | 0.0% | 0.0% | |
Others | 9,023 | 0.2% | 0.1% | |
Figure of percentage | - | 5,758,301 | 7,364,570 |
Ethnic groups by confession | Total | Bulgarians | Turks | Roma | Others | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | ||
Orthodoxy | 6,552,751 | 82.6 | 6,315,938 | 94.9 | 5,425 | 0.7 | 180,326 | 48.6 | 51,062 | ||
Islam | 966,978 | 12.2 | 131,531 | 2.0 | 713,024 | 95.5 | 103,436 | 27.9 | 18,987 | ||
Irreligion | 308,116 | 3.9 | 151,008 | 2.3 | 23,146 | 3.1 | 59,669 | 16.1 | |||
Roman Catholicism | 43,811 | 0.6 | 37,811 | 0.6 | 2,561 | 0.3 | |||||
Protestantism | 42,308 | 0.5 | 14,591 | 0.2 | 2,066 | 0.3 | 24,651 | 6.6 | 1,000 | ||
Others | 14,937 | 0.2 | 4,331 | 0.1 | 442 | 0.1 | |||||
Total population | 7,928,901 | 100.0 | 6,655,210 | 100.0 | 746,664 | 100.0 | 370,908 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
census 1900 | census 1910 | census 1920 | census 1926 | census 1934 | census 1992 | census 2001 | census 2011 | census 2021 | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | ||
Orthodoxy | 3,019,999 | 80.6 | 3,643,918 | 84.0 | 4,062,097 | 83.8 | 4,569,074 | 83.4 | 5,128,890 | 84.4 | 7,274,592 | 85.7 | 6,552,751 | 82.6 | 4,374,135 | 59.4 | 4,091,780 | 62.8 | |
Islam | 643,300 | 17.2 | 602,078 | 13.8 | 690,734 | 14.2 | 789,296 | 14.4 | 821,298 | 13.5 | 1,110,295 | 13.0 | 966,978 | 12.2 | 577,139 | 7.8 | 638,708 | 9.8 | |
Protestantism | 4,524 | 0.1 | 6,335 | 0.1 | 5,617 | 0.1 | 6,735 | 0.1 | 8,371 | 0.1 | 21,878 | 0.2 | 42,308 | 0.5 | 64,476 | 1.1 | 69,852 | 1.1 | |
Roman Catholicism | 28,569 | 0.8 | 32,150 | 0.7 | 34,072 | 0.7 | 40,347 | 0.7 | 45,704 | 0.7 | 53,074 | 0.6 | 43,811 | 0.5 | 48,945 | 0.8 | 38,709 | 0.6 | |
Jews | 33,663 | 0.9 | 40,067 | 0.9 | 43,232 | 0.9 | 46,431 | 0.8 | 48,398 | 0.8 | 2,580 | 0.0 | 706 | 0.0 | 1,736 | 0.0 | |||
Armenian Apostolic Church | 13,809 | 0.4 | 12,259 | 0.3 | 10,848 | 0.2 | 25,402 | 0.5 | 23,476 | 0.4 | 9,672 | 0.1 | 1,715 | 0.0 | 5,002 | 0.1 | |||
Others | 326 | 0.0 | 14,937 | 0.2 | 9,023 | 0.2 | 6,451 | 0.1 | |||||||||||
Irreligion | 272,264 | 3.7 | 305,102 | 4.7 | |||||||||||||||
Undeclared | 93 | 0.0 | 308,116 | 3.9 | 408,989 | 5.5 | 731,841 | 11.2 | |||||||||||
Borrowed from adm. sources | 308,116 | 3.9 | 1,606,269 | 21.8 | 616,681 | 9.5 | |||||||||||||
Total | 3,744,283 | 4,337,513 | 4,846,971 | 5,478,741 | 6,077,939 | 8,487,317 | 7,928,901 | 7,364,570 | 6,519,789 |
See main article: Immigration to Bulgaria.
The first censuses of the Principality of Bulgaria and the autonomous province of Eastern Rumelia in 1880 recorded 31,786 and 17,970 Bulgarian refugees from Macedonia and Ottoman Thrace, respectively, who accounted for 1.38% of the population of the Principality an 2.20% of the population of the autonomous province, respectively.[64] [65] The census of the Principality also counted a total of 37,635 people, or 1.88% of the population, born in a country other than the Ottoman Empire, mostly Bulgarians from Romania, Northern Dobruja and Bessarabia. By 1887, when the first joint census of the Principality and the autonomous province was conducted following their peaceful unification in 1885, the number of the refugees from the Ottoman Empire had grown to 54,462 people, or 1.73% of the population, while the rest of the foreign-born population had fallen to 31,637 people, 9,831 of whom born in the Russian Empire, 11,843 in Romania, 2,690 in Serbia and 7,273 elsewhere.
According to the 1910 census, 300,000 or almost 10% of the ethnic Bulgarians were born in another Bulgarian municipality than the one they were enumerated in. The same data shows that the foreign-born ethnic Bulgarians numbered 78,000, or 2% of them, most numerous of whom were the 61,000 Ottoman-born, 9,000 Romanian-born and by less than 2,000 Austro-Hungarian, Serbian and Russian-born.[66] By the 1926 census, there had been 253,000 refugees with granted households and land or citizenship but with many more in towns of uncertain number. 35% came from Eastern Thrace, 30% came from Greek Macedonia, another 18% from Western Thrace, 8% from Dobruja, 4% from the Western Outlands, 3% from Asia Minor, and 2% from North Macedonia. They constituted 6% of the country's population. In 1940, 70,000 Bulgarians were exchanged from Northern Dobruja. The total number of refugees in 1878-1940 is estimated at between 700,000 and 1,200,000.[67] In 1950-1951, around 150,000 Turks left Bulgaria for Turkey, and again in 1989.
According to the 2011 census Russian citizens are the most numerous foreigners - 11 991, followed by 8 444 EU citizens (UK- 2 605, Greece - 1 253, Germany- 848, Poland - 819 and Italy - 456), citizens of Ukraine - 3 064, North Macedonia - 1 091, Moldova - 893 and Serbia - 569. 22.8% of them are from Asia, mostly from Turkey. Those with dual Bulgarian and other citizenship were 22 152, or 0.3% of the population. Of them persons with Bulgarian and Russian citizenship were 5 257 (23.7%), followed by persons with Bulgarian and Turkish citizenship - 4 282 (19.3%), Bulgarian and citizenship of the USA- 1 725 (7.8%). There are at least 17,527 Refugees of the Syrian Civil War with applications in Bulgaria. In 2001-2015 185,447 people applied for Bulgarian citizenship and 116,222 were provided with. 113,647 were granted on grounds of proven Bulgarian ancestry, including 59,968 North Macedonia citizens. 29,218 were Moldovan citizens, 5930 Ukrainians, 5374 Serbians, 5194 Russians, 3840 Israeli, 2192 Albanians, 692 Turks and others.[68] In 2016, 12,880 foreigners were naturalized, including 6196 Macedonians.[69]
2011 | 2021 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Number | % | Number | % | |
Bulgarians | 7,327,847 | 99.50% | 6,459,248 | 99.07% |
Foreigners | 36,723 | 0.50% | 60,541 | 0.93% |
EU-27 | 8,444 | 0.11% | 10,549 | 0.16% |
Other European | 18,413 | 0.15% | 35,901 | 0.55% |
Africa | 429 | 0.01% | 940 | 0.01% |
Central and South America | 338 | 0.00% | 518 | 0.01% |
North America | 588 | 0.01% | 776 | 0.01% |
Asia | 8,403 | 0.11% | 10,466 | 0.16% |
Oceania | 62 | 0.00% | 88 | 0.00% |
Stateless | 46 | 0.00% | 1,303 | 0.02% |
Total | 7,364,570 | 6,519,789 | ||
2011 | 2021 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Number | % | Number | % | |
Russian Federation | 11,911 | 32.84% | 17,465 | 28.85% |
Ukraine | 3,064 | 8.45% | 6,163 | 10.18% |
Turkey | 2,741 | 7.56% | 3,017 | 4.99% |
United Kingdom | 2,605 | 7.09% | 4,484 | 7.41% |
Greece | 1,253 | 3.41% | 1,631 | 2.69% |
Armenia | 1,167 | 3.22% | 1,048 | 1.73% |
1,091 | 3.01% | 1,576 | 2.60% | |
Germany | 848 | 2.31% | 1,797 | 2.97% |
China | 749 | 2.04% | 1,683 | 2.78% |
729 | 2.00% | 2,615 | 4.32% | |
Total | 36,723 | 60,541 | ||
Population by country of birth:[70]
2011 | 2013 | 2015 | 2019[71] | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bulgaria | 7,290,666 | 7,188,273 | 7,077,389 | 6,951,482 | |
Total foreign-born | 78,621 | 96,113 | 123,803 | 168,516 | |
18,725 | 19,533 | 24,416 | 31,679 | ||
Turkey | 3,955 | 6,227 | 9,284 | 11,702 | |
1,250 | 1,298 | 8,318 | 14,080 | ||
Greece | 4,928 | 7,377 | 7,166 | 8,563 | |
Ukraine | 5,877 | 6,084 | 7,039 | 10,115 | |
Germany | 2,083 | 3,638 | 5,533 | 9,334 | |
3,042 | 5,066 | 6,738 | 9,992 | ||
Spain | 1,558 | 4,065 | 5,240 | 7,098 | |
Romania | 6,045 | 5,380 | 4,612 | 4,556 | |
Italy | 1,082 | 2,261 | 2,830 | 3,790 | |
2,426 | 2,384 | 2,742 | 3,595 | ||
United States | 1,180 | 2,023 | 2,431 | 3,153 | |
1,893 | 1,996 | 2,363 | 2,990 | ||
Serbia | 2,306 | 2,246 | 2,318 | 2,879 | |
Azerbaijan | 2,152 | 1,871 | 1,886 | 2,103 | |
France | 562 | 1,255 | 1,781 | 2,614 | |
Poland | 1,196 | 1,443 | 1,648 | 2,043 | |
Armenia | 1,472 | 1,422 | 1,565 | 1,840 | |
Kazakhstan | 970 | 1,067 | 1,515 | 2,101 | |
Belgium | 410 | 1,009 | 1,481 | 2,199 | |
China | 860 | 929 | 1,236 | 1,447 | |
Czech Republic | 924 | 1,028 | 1,186 | 1,514 | |
Austria | 1,512 | ||||
Albania | 1,134 | 1,078 | 1,130 | 1,348 | |
Netherlands | 298 | 735 | 1,040 | 1,522 | |
Cyprus | 244 | 679 | 1,008 | 1,372 | |
Unknown | 144 | 166 | 1,006 |
2011 | 2015 | ||
---|---|---|---|
Total | 36,723 | 65,622 | |
11,991 | 17,943 | ||
Turkey | 2,741 | 8,157 | |
729 | 7,508 | ||
Ukraine | 3,064 | 3,874 | |
2,605 | 3,693 | ||
Unknown | 2,538 | ||
Greece | 1,253 | 2,094 | |
Stateless | 1,875 | ||
1,091 | 1,289 | ||
Germany | 848 | 1,266 | |
Armenia | 1,167 | 1,175 | |
China | 749 | 1,147 | |
893 | 1,018 | ||
Poland | 819 | 978 | |
United States | 876 | ||
Italy | 456 | 815 | |
Serbia | 569 | 813 | |
Iraq | 706 | 806 | |
Kazakhstan | 712 |
2007 | 1,561 | 2,958 | -1,397 | |
2008 | 1,236 | 2,112 | -876 | |
2009 | 3,310 | 19,039 | -15,729 | |
2010 | 3,518 | 27,708 | -24190 | |
2011 | 4,722 | 9,517 | -4,795 | |
2012 | 14,103 | 16,615 | -2,512 | |
2013 | 18,570 | 19,678 | -1,108 | |
2014 | 26,615 | 28,727 | -2,112 | |
2015 | 25,223 | 29,470 | -4,247 | |
2016 | 21,241 | 30,570 | -9,329 | |
2017 | 25,597 | 31,586 | -5,999 | |
2018 | 29,559 | 33,225 | -3,666 | |
2019 | 37,929 | 39,941 | -2,012 | |
2020 | 37,364 | 6,649 | 30,715 | |
2021 | 39,461 | 26,755 | 12,706 | |
2022 | 40,619 | 13,175 | 27,444 | |
2023 | 56,807 | 15,227 | 41,580 |
0–14 years: 13.2%
15–65 years: 68.3%
65 years and over: 18.5% (Census 2011)At the 2011 census, the largest cohort of those self-identified as Romani was the 0–9 years cohort, which accounted for 20.8% of all Romani. The same age cohort accounted for 10.2% of the Turks and 7.2% of the Bulgarians. At the 2021 census, the 0–9 years cohort amongst the Romani was second largest after the 10–19 years one and represented 17.0% of all Romani.[73] The corresponding percentages for ethnic Bulgarians and ethnic Turks stood at 7.7% and 8.8%, respectively.
Ethnicity of children aged 0–9 per province (% from the declared) | ||||
Province | Ethnicity | Ethnicity | Ethnicity | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bulgarian | Turkish | Roma | ||
Bulgaria | 72.9% | 10.6% | 12.0% | |
80.9% | 7.3% | 7.8% | ||
68.5% | 16.2% | 9.7% | ||
56.9% | 17.1% | 18.9% | ||
85.0% | 8.2% | 3.8% | ||
62.7% | 16.5% | 16.7% | ||
23.8% | 67.8% | 2.7% | ||
79.4% | 0.0% | 16.1% | ||
78.0% | 3.6% | 14.8% | ||
66.8% | 0.1% | 29.0% | ||
67.3% | 8.7% | 16.7% | ||
90.3% | 0.1% | 7.5% | ||
78.5% | 4.4% | 13.5% | ||
74.1% | 9.3% | 11.9% | ||
33.9% | 50.0% | 10.2% | ||
72.2% | 15.1% | 8.9% | ||
45.5% | 31.5% | 17.6% | ||
38.2% | 43.1% | 14.4% | ||
55.0% | 11.6% | 28.3% | ||
87.6% | 5.0% | 1.9% | ||
Sofia City | 92.2% | 0.5% | 3.6% | |
77.1% | 0.2% | 18.8% | ||
68.3% | 7.3% | 19.9% | ||
39.6% | 38.0% | 15.5% | ||
79.2% | 8.9% | 7.0% | ||
79.9% | 11.0% | 4.4% | ||
74.3% | 0.1% | 20.6% | ||
80.3% | 0.4% | 15.6% | ||
62.4% | 5.8% | 26.7% | ||
Source (2011 census): |
Turkish children constitute the majority in Kardzhali Province (68% of self-declared) and Razgrad Province (50% of self-declared); they also constitute the largest group of all children in Silistra Province (43%).
Roma children constitute 12% of all children in Bulgaria and more than a quarter in three provinces: Montana (29%), Sliven (28%) and Yambol (27%).
Bulgaria is ageing rapidly, especially in some remote rural areas.
Age Structure (2011) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Under working age (0 – 17) | Working age (18 – 64) | Above working age (65 and over) | |
1 172 208 (16.0%) | 4 789 967 (65.1%) | 1 389 059 (18.9%) | |
Age Structure (2017)[74] | |||
Under working age (0 – 17) | Working age (18 – 64) | Above working age (65 and over) | |
1 065 993 (15.1%) | 4 248 503 (60.3%) | 1 735 538 (24.6%) |
See main article: Education in Bulgaria.
Over 98% of the population is literate, the males being more literate than the females.
According to the 2011 census, about 112,778 people aged nine or more are illiterate. There are considerable differences in the share of illiterate persons amongst the three main ethnic groups. Amongst the Bulgarian ethnic group the share of illiterate is 0.5%, amongst the Turkish - 4.7% and amongst the Roma ethnic group - 11.8%.[76] About 81 thousand people aged seven or more never visited school.[77]
The number of unemployed people declined from 207000 people (or around 6.2% of the population) in 2017[78] to 156 657 in November 2023. The unemployment rate stood at 4.3 per cent in November 2023 according to Eurostat.[79]
Most unemployed people are aged 15 to 24 years old.
The unemployment rate in rural areas (around 10.0%) is nearly two times higher than the unemployment rate in urban areas (approximately 5.1%).
Vidin Province has the highest unemployment rate with almost one fifth of its labour force being unemployed. The provinces of Shumen (15.9%), Silistra (12.5%) and Targovishte (12.4%) also have very high unemployment rates.
According to Eurostat, 82.3% per cent of the population live in privately owned and owner-occupied homes, ranking it as 12th highest in ownership globally.[80] It is down from a recent peak of 87.6% in 2008, and has been steadily falling since.
The number of Internet users has increased rapidly since 2000—from 430,000 their number grew to 1.55 million in 2004, and 3.4 million (48 per cent penetration rate) in 2010.[81] Bulgaria has the third-fastest average Broadband Internet speed in the world after South Korea and Romania with an average speed of 1,611 kbit/s.[82] [83]
Currently there are three active mobile phone operators—Mtel, Telenor and Vivacom, Mtel is the largest one with 5.2 million users as of 2010,[84] Telenor has 3,9 million as of 2007 and Vivacom over 1 million.
Bulgaria's HIV rate is among the lowest in the world, being 0.1% or 3,800 infected as of 2009.
See also: List of cities and towns in Bulgaria.
Most Bulgarians (72.5 per cent) reside in urban areas. Approximately one-sixth of them live in Sofia, which has a population exceeding 1,200,000 people.
Urban population: 5,338,261 or 72.5% of total population (Census 2011)
Rural: 2,026,309 or 27.5%
Rate of urbanization: -0.3% annual rate of change (2005–10 est.)