NSI: Bulgaria’s population dropped below seven million in 2019
The population of Bulgaria dropped to 6 951 482 as at December 31 2019, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said on April 13 in a report on demographic processes.
Compared with the figure at the end of 2018, the total represented a decrease of 0.7 per cent, or 48 557 people.
The most recent census in Bulgaria was in 2011. That year, the population count was 7 364 570. This means that between 2011 and the end of 2019, Bulgaria’s population decreased by 413 088.
The next census in Bulgaria is to be conducted in the first half of 2021.
The population of Bulgaria’s capital city Sofia, as at the end of 2019, was 1 242 568, the NSI said.
This was followed by Plovdiv 347 851, Varna 336 216, Bourgas 201 779, Rousse 141 231 and Stara Zagora 134 726.
The NSI said Bulgaria’s population was 3 369 646 men (48.5 per cent) and 3 581 836 women (51.5 per cent).
The difference between the number of live births and deaths represents the natural increase of population. The country’s demographic development after 1990 has been characterised by a negative natural increase, the NSI said.
“Due to the negative natural increase the country population decreases by 46 545 persons in 2019,” the NSI said.
The process of population ageing continues, it said.
By the end of 2019 the number of people aged 65 and over was 1 504 088, or 21.6 per cent of the population of Bulgaria. Compared to 2018, the share of population aged 65 and over increased by 0.3 percentage points.
There were 61 882 children born in 2019, of which 61 538 (99.4 per cent) were live born. The number of live births decreased by 659 children or 1.06 per cent compared to the previous year.
The number of deaths in 2019 was 108 083 and the crude mortality rate 15.5‰. Compared to the previous year the number of deaths has decreased by 443 or 0.4 per cent.
“The crude mortality rate remains too high,” the NSI said.
The mortality rate for the EU-28 in 2018 was 10.3‰. The mortality rate in Bulgaria is highest among the EU member states, the institute said.
Life expectancy for the country, calculated for the period 2017 – 2019, was 74.9 years. This was 0.1 years higher than in 2016 – 2018.
In Bulgaria, the life expectancy of a man was 71.5 years and of a woman, 78.5 years.
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