More than 31 000 people emigrated from Bulgaria in 2017 – official statistics
A total of 31 586 people changed their registered address in Bulgaria for one abroad in 2017, just more than half of them men and more than 55 per cent people aged 20 to 39, according to official statistics released on April 12 by the National Statistical Institute (NSI).
As a measure of emigration, this information records only those who took the formal step of registering a change of address.
Close to 15 per cent of those who emigrated were younger than 20, while just less than seven per cent were older than 60.
The most preferred destination countries were Germany (22 per cent), the United Kingdom (16.3 per cent) and Spain (12.2 per cent), the NSI said.
Immigrants, classed as including Bulgarian citizens who returned to Bulgaria from abroad and citizens of other countries who were granted residence or formal status in Bulgaria, added up to 25 597 people in 2017.
Of these, 51.3 per cent were women and the rest men.
Of the immigrants to Bulgaria, 36.2 per cent were aged 20 – 39 years and 27 per cent were 40 to 59 years old.
The youngest immigrants (under 20 years) added up to 20.5 per cent while 16.3 per cent were older than 60.
About 23.7 per cent of immigrants were from Turkey, 11.7 per cent from Russia and 6.9 per cent from Germany, the NSI said.
(Photo: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)
