Russians top list of 20 largest groups of foreigners in Bulgaria – statistics institute
Russians are the largest group of foreigners in Bulgaria, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said in a special report, citing figures as at December 31 2017.
At that date, when Bulgaria had a total population of 7 050 034, there were 22 141 Russians in the country, the NSI said.
Each year from 2007 to 2017, Russians were the largest group of foreigners in Bulgaria.
By far, most of the Russian residents in Bulgaria were women, a total of 15 371. Similarly, among Ukrainians, the fourth-largest group, women also vastly outnumbered men, 4142 of a total 5894 Ukrainians.
In the case of the second-largest group, citizens of Turkey, and the third-largest, Syrians, men outnumbered women.
Of 12 817 Turkish citizens living in Bulgaria, 8375 were men. Of the 12 774 Syrians, 7683 were men.
The NSI noted that it was in 2011 that citizens of the UK and of Turkey got on to the list of the five largest groups of foreigners in Bulgaria.
Three years later, citizens of Syria got into the top five, and now are the third-largest group of foreigners resident in the country.
While not stated by the NSI, this is presumably because of the large numbers of refugees from Syria who began arriving in Bulgaria in 2013/14. As is well known, most refugees and migrants do not want to stay in Bulgaria, but seek to transit the country to more prosperous places in the West.
The list of top 20 foreigners in Bulgaria, according to the NSI, is:
1. Russia 22 141
2. Turkey 12 817
3. Syria 12 774
4. Ukraine 5 894
5. United Kingdom 3842
6. Greece 2031
7. Republic of Macedonia 1712
8. Germany 1346
9. China 1332
10. Armenia 1196
11. Iraq 1111
12. Serbia 1102
13. United States 1092
14. Moldova 1086
15. Kazakhstan 1073
16. Poland 1009
17. Italy 860
18. Belarus 622
19. Romania 621
20. Israel 576
(Photo: MediaPhoto.org)
