Demographics of Bulgaria
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.
The population of Bulgaria was around 6.4 million in 2024.
In 2023, Bulgaria had a Human Development Index of 0.845, which corresponds to "very high human development", ranking 55th in the world together with neighbouring Romania, was designated as a "High-income economy" by the World Bank, with a GNI per capita of $15,320, as of 2024, and was awarded the 38th position in Newsweeks rankings of the world's best countries to live in, measuring health, education, political environment and economic dynamism in 2010.
Demographic history
Various estimates have put Bulgaria's medieval population at 1.1 million in 700 AD and 2.6 million in 1365. 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. 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 is an extrapolation
Vital statistics
Vital Statistics 1875 to 1899
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.| Years | 1875 | 1876 | 1877 | 1878 | 1879 | 1880 |
| Total Fertility Rate in Bulgaria | 5.16 | 5.05 | 4.95 | 4.84 | 4.73 | 4.62 |
| Years | 1891 | 1892 | 1893 | 1894 | 1895 | 1896 | 1897 | 1898 | 1899 |
| Total Fertility Rate in Bulgaria | 5.24 | 4.82 | 4.69 | 5.09 | 5.45 | 5.55 | 5.7 | 5.28 | 5.45 |
Vital statistics 1900 to present
Notable events in Bulgarian demography:- 1913 – Second Balkan War
- 1916-1918 – First World War
- 1989-1990 – End of the People's Republic and Turks from Bulgaria
| Average population | Live births | Deaths | Natural change | Crude birth rate | Crude death rate | Natural change | Crude migration rate | Total fertility rates | |
| 1900 | 3,710,000 | 157,000 | 84,000 | 73,000 | 42.3 | 22.6 | 19.7 | 5.67 | |
| 1901 | 3,740,000 | 141,000 | 87,000 | 54,000 | 37.7 | 23.3 | 14.4 | 5.70 | |
| 1902 | 3,800,000 | 149,000 | 91,000 | 58,000 | 39.2 | 23.9 | 15.3 | 5.73 | |
| 1903 | 3,850,000 | 159,000 | 88,000 | 71,000 | 41.3 | 22.9 | 18.4 | 5.76 | |
| 1904 | 3,910,000 | 167,000 | 84,000 | 83,000 | 42.7 | 21.5 | 21.2 | 5.80 | |
| 1905 | 4,000,000 | 174,000 | 87,000 | 87,000 | 43.5 | 21.8 | 21.8 | 5.83 | |
| 1906 | 4,100,000 | 179,000 | 91,000 | 88,000 | 43.7 | 22.2 | 21.5 | 5.77 | |
| 1907 | 4,150,000 | 180,000 | 92,000 | 88,000 | 43.4 | 22.2 | 21.2 | 5.72 | |
| 1908 | 4,200,000 | 169,000 | 102,000 | 67,000 | 40.2 | 24.3 | 16.0 | 5.66 | |
| 1909 | 4,280,000 | 173,000 | 113,000 | 60,000 | 40.4 | 26.4 | 14.0 | 5.6 | |
| 1910 | 4,350,000 | 180,000 | 100,000 | 80,000 | 41.4 | 23.0 | 18.4 | 5.55 | |
| 1911 | 4,400,000 | 176,000 | 94,000 | 82,000 | 40.0 | 21.4 | 18.6 | 5.52 | |
| 1912 | 4,430,000 | 185,000 | 91,000 | 94,000 | 41.8 | 20.5 | 21.2 | 5.48 | |
| 1913 | 4,200,000 | 108,000 | 122,000 | -14,000 | 25.7 | 29.0 | -3.3 | 5.45 | |
| 1914 | 4,240,000 | 191,000 | 88,000 | 103,000 | 45.0 | 20.8 | 24.3 | 5.42 | |
| 1915 | 4,280,000 | 172,000 | 85,000 | 87,000 | 40.2 | 19.9 | 20.3 | 5.39 | |
| 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 | |
| 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 | -1,4 | 2.91 |
| 1943 | 6,827,600 | 148,840 | 88,386 | 60,454 | 21.8 | 13.0 | 8.9 | -0.6 | 2.79 |
| 1944 | 6,884,600 | 151,013 | 94,082 | 56,931 | 22.0 | 13.7 | 8.3 | 0 | 2.83 |
| 1945 | 6,942,200 | 166,960 | 103,591 | 63,369 | 24.1 | 14.9 | 9.1 | -0.8 | 3.09 |
| 1946 | 7,000,200 | 179,226 | 95,799 | 83,427 | 25.6 | 13.7 | 11.9 | -3.7 | 3.29 |
| 1947 | 7,063,700 | 169,501 | 94,395 | 75,106 | 24.0 | 13.4 | 10.7 | -1.7 | 3.06 |
| 1948 | 7,130,100 | 175,771 | 89,927 | 85,844 | 24.7 | 12.6 | 12.0 | -2.8 | 3.16 |
| 1949 | 7,195,100 | 177,734 | 84,675 | 93,059 | 24.7 | 11.8 | 12.9 | -3.9 | 3.17 |
| 1950 | 7,251,000 | 182,571 | 74,134 | 108,437 | 25.2 | 10.2 | 15.0 | -7.3 | 2.94 |
| 1951 | 7,258,200 | 152,803 | 77,364 | 75,439 | 21.1 | 10.7 | 10.4 | -9.4 | 2.45 |
| 1952 | 7,274,900 | 154,014 | 84,254 | 69,760 | 21.2 | 11.6 | 9.6 | -7.3 | 2.44 |
| 1953 | 7,346,100 | 153,220 | 68,055 | 85,165 | 20.9 | 9.3 | 11.6 | -1.9 | 2.41 |
| 1954 | 7,423,300 | 149,902 | 68,384 | 81,518 | 20.2 | 9.2 | 11.0 | -0.6 | 2.36 |
| 1955 | 7,499,400 | 150,978 | 67,960 | 83,018 | 20.1 | 9.1 | 11.1 | -0.9 | 2.41 |
| 1956 | 7,575,800 | 147,910 | 71,153 | 76,757 | 19.5 | 9.4 | 10.1 | 0 | 2.36 |
| 1957 | 7,651,300 | 141,035 | 65,807 | 75,228 | 18.4 | 8.6 | 9.8 | 0 | 2.26 |
| 1958 | 7,727,600 | 138,294 | 60,734 | 77,560 | 17.9 | 7.9 | 10.0 | -0,2 | 2.23 |
| 1959 | 7,797,800 | 136,892 | 73,850 | 63,042 | 17.5 | 9.4 | 8.1 | 0.9 | 2.23 |
| 1960 | 7,867,374 | 140,082 | 63,665 | 76,417 | 17.8 | 8.1 | 9.7 | -0.9 | 2.31 |
| 1961 | 7,943,118 | 137,861 | 62,562 | 75,299 | 17.4 | 7.9 | 9.5 | 0.1 | 2.29 |
| 1962 | 8,012,946 | 134,148 | 69,640 | 64,508 | 16.7 | 8.7 | 8.1 | 0.7 | 2.24 |
| 1963 | 8,078,145 | 132,143 | 66,057 | 66,086 | 16.4 | 8.2 | 8.2 | -0.1 | 2.21 |
| 1964 | 8,144,340 | 130,958 | 64,479 | 66,479 | 16.1 | 7.9 | 8.2 | 0 | 2.19 |
| 1965 | 8,204,168 | 125,791 | 66,970 | 58,821 | 15.3 | 8.2 | 7.2 | 0.1 | 2.09 |
| 1966 | 8,258,057 | 123,039 | 68,366 | 54,673 | 14.9 | 8.3 | 6.6 | -0.1 | 2.03 |
| 1967 | 8,310,226 | 124,582 | 74,696 | 49,886 | 15.0 | 9.0 | 6.0 | 0.3 | 2.02 |
| 1968 | 8,369,603 | 141,460 | 72,176 | 69,284 | 16.9 | 8.6 | 8.3 | -1.2 | 2.27 |
| 1969 | 8,434,172 | 143,060 | 80,183 | 62,877 | 17.0 | 9.5 | 7.5 | 0.2 | 2.27 |
| 1970 | 8,489,574 | 138,745 | 77,095 | 61,650 | 16.3 | 9.1 | 7.3 | -0.7 | 2.17 |
| 1971 | 8,536,395 | 135,422 | 82,805 | 52,617 | 15.9 | 9.7 | 6.2 | -0.7 | 2.10 |
| 1972 | 8,576,200 | 131,316 | 84,174 | 47,142 | 15.3 | 9.8 | 5.5 | -0.9 | 2.03 |
| 1973 | 8,620,967 | 139,713 | 81,470 | 58,243 | 16.2 | 9.5 | 6.8 | -1.6 | 2.15 |
| 1974 | 8,678,745 | 149,196 | 85,239 | 63,957 | 17.2 | 9.8 | 7.4 | -0.7 | 2.29 |
| 1975 | 8,720,742 | 144,668 | 89,974 | 54,694 | 16.6 | 10.3 | 6.3 | -1.5 | 2.23 |
| 1976 | 8,758,599 | 144,929 | 88,348 | 56,581 | 16.5 | 10.1 | 6.5 | -2.1 | 2.24 |
| 1977 | 8,804,183 | 141,702 | 94,362 | 47,340 | 16.1 | 10.7 | 5.4 | -0.2 | 2.21 |
| 1978 | 8,814,032 | 136,442 | 92,445 | 43,997 | 15.5 | 10.5 | 5.0 | -3.9 | 2.15 |
| 1979 | 8,825,940 | 135,358 | 94,403 | 40,955 | 15.3 | 10.7 | 4.6 | -3.3 | 2.16 |
| 1980 | 8,861,535 | 128,190 | 97,950 | 30,240 | 14.5 | 11.1 | 3.4 | 0.6 | 2.05 |
| 1981 | 8,891,117 | 124,372 | 95,441 | 28,931 | 14.0 | 10.7 | 3.3 | 0.1 | 2.00 |
| 1982 | 8,917,457 | 124,166 | 100,293 | 23,873 | 13.9 | 11.2 | 2.7 | 0.3 | 2.01 |
| 1983 | 8,939,738 | 122,993 | 102,182 | 20,811 | 13.8 | 11.4 | 2.3 | 0.2 | 2.01 |
| 1984 | 8,960,679 | 122,303 | 101,419 | 20,884 | 13.6 | 11.3 | 2.3 | 0 | 2.01 |
| 1985 | 8,960,547 | 118,955 | 107,485 | 11,470 | 13.3 | 12.0 | 1.3 | -1.3 | 1.97 |
| 1986 | 8,958,171 | 120,078 | 104,039 | 16,039 | 13.4 | 11.6 | 1.8 | -2.1 | 2.02 |
| 1987 | 8,971,359 | 116,672 | 107,213 | 9,459 | 13.0 | 12.0 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 1.96 |
| 1988 | 8,981,446 | 117,440 | 107,385 | 10,055 | 13.1 | 12.0 | 1.1 | 0 | 1.97 |
| 1989 | 8,876,972 | 112,289 | 106,902 | 5,387 | 12.6 | 12.0 | 0.6 | -12.2 | 1.90 |
| 1990 | 8,718,289 | 105,180 | 108,608 | -3,428 | 12.1 | 12.5 | -0.4 | -17.5 | 1.82 |
| 1991 | 8,632,367 | 95,910 | 110,423 | -14,513 | 11.1 | 12.8 | -1.7 | -8.2 | 1.66 |
| 1992 | 8,540,164 | 89,134 | 107,998 | -18,864 | 10.4 | 12.6 | -2.2 | -8.5 | 1.55 |
| 1993 | 8,472,313 | 84,400 | 109,540 | -25,140 | 10.0 | 12.9 | -3.0 | -7.7 | 1.46 |
| 1994 | 8,443,591 | 79,442 | 111,827 | -32,385 | 9.4 | 13.2 | -3.8 | 0.4 | 1.37 |
| 1995 | 8,406,067 | 71,967 | 114,670 | -42,703 | 8.6 | 13.6 | -5.1 | 0.6 | 1.23 |
| 1996 | 8,362,826 | 72,188 | 117,056 | -44,868 | 8.6 | 14.0 | -5.4 | 0.2 | 1.23 |
| 1997 | 8,312,068 | 64,125 | 121,861 | -57,736 | 7.7 | 14.7 | -6.9 | 0.8 | 1.09 |
| 1998 | 8,256,786 | 65,361 | 118,190 | -52,829 | 7.9 | 14.3 | -6.4 | -0.3 | 1.11 |
| 1999 | 8,210,624 | 72,290 | 111,786 | -39,496 | 8.8 | 13.6 | -4.8 | -0.8 | 1.23 |
| 2000 | 8,170,172 | 73,679 | 115,087 | -41,408 | 9.0 | 14.1 | -5.1 | 0.1 | 1.26 |
| 2001 | 8,009,142 | 68,180 | 112,368 | -44,188 | 8.5 | 14.0 | -5.5 | -26.0 | 1.21 |
| 2002 | 7,837,161 | 66,499 | 112,617 | -46,118 | 8.5 | 14.4 | -5.9 | -2.7 | 1.23 |
| 2003 | 7,775,327 | 67,359 | 111,927 | -44,568 | 8.7 | 14.4 | -5.7 | 0 | 1.26 |
| 2004 | 7,716,860 | 69,886 | 110,110 | -40,224 | 9.1 | 14.3 | -5.2 | 0 | 1.33 |
| 2005 | 7,658,972 | 71,075 | 113,374 | -42,299 | 9.3 | 14.8 | -5.5 | 0 | 1.37 |
| 2006 | 7,601,022 | 73,978 | 113,438 | -39,460 | 9.7 | 14.9 | -5.2 | 0 | 1.44 |
| 2007 | 7,545,338 | 75,349 | 113,004 | -37,655 | 10.0 | 15.0 | -5.0 | -0.2 | 1.49 |
| 2008 | 7,492,561 | 77,712 | 110,523 | -32,811 | 10.4 | 14.8 | -4.4 | -0.1 | 1.56 |
| 2009 | 7,444,443 | 80,956 | 108,068 | -27,112 | 10.9 | 14.5 | -3.6 | -2.1 | 1.66 |
| 2010 | 7,395,599 | 75,513 | 110,165 | -34,652 | 10.2 | 14.9 | -4.7 | -3.2 | 1.57 |
| 2011 | 7,348,328 | 70,846 | 108,258 | -37,412 | 9.6 | 14.7 | -5.1 | -18.7 | 1.51 |
| 2012 | 7,305,888 | 69,121 | 109,281 | -40,160 | 9.5 | 15.0 | -5.5 | -0.3 | 1.50 |
| 2013 | 7,160,005 | 66,578 | 104,345 | -37,767 | 9.3 | 14.6 | -5.3 | -0.2 | 1.54 |
| 2014 | 7,073,572 | 67,585 | 108,952 | -41,367 | 9.6 | 15.4 | -5.8 | -0.3 | 1.62 |
| 2015 | 6,984,225 | 65,950 | 110,117 | -44,167 | 9.4 | 15.8 | -6.3 | -0.6 | 1.64 |
| 2016 | 6,894,139 | 64,984 | 107,580 | -42,596 | 9.4 | 15.6 | -6.2 | -1.3 | 1.67 |
| 2017 | 6,803,468 | 63,955 | 109,791 | -45,836 | 9.4 | 16.1 | -6.7 | -0.8 | 1.71 |
| 2018 | 6,710,798 | 62,197 | 108,526 | -46,329 | 9.3 | 16.2 | -6.9 | -0.5 | 1.73 |
| 2019 | 6,616,726 | 61,538 | 108,083 | -46,545 | 9.3 | 16.3 | -7.0 | -0.3 | 1.79 |
| 2020 | 6,550,696 | 59,086 | 124,735 | -65,649 | 9.0 | 19.0 | -10.0 | 4.4 | 1.77 |
| 2021 | 6,507,301 | 58,678 | 148,995 | -90,317 | 9.0 | 22.9 | -13.9 | 1.8 | 1.80 |
| 2022 | 6,447,710 | 56,596 | 118,814 | -62,218 | 8.8 | 18.4 | -9.6 | 4.2 | 1.78 |
| 2023 | 6,445,481 | 57,197 | 101,006 | -43,809 | 8.9 | 15.7 | -6.8 | 6.4 | 1.81 |
| 2024 | 6,437,360 | 53,428 | 100,736 | -47,308 | 8.3 | 15.6 | -7.3 | 6.0 | 1.72 |
Total fertility rates by region
| Regions | TFR | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Yugoiztochen | 2.03 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Severozapaden | 1.91 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Yuzhen tsentralen | 1.75 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Severoiztochen | 1.63 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Severen tsentralen | 1.62 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Yugozapaden | 1.55 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 BulgariaBirth rates and fertilityHistorical birth and fertility ratesThe 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. The same trend continued well after Bulgaria's Liberation from Ottoman rule in 1878. 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. 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
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 and Roma. At the same time, due to higher mortality, the rate of natural increase among Bulgarian Turks was almost identical to that among ethnic Bulgarians, while the rate among the Romani was twice as high. Present-dayA total of 64,984 live births were recorded in Bulgaria in 2016, giving the country a crude birth rate of 9.1‰.Bulgaria has a low total fertility rate of 1.58 children per woman. 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 tend to have higher fertility rates compared to other areas, whereas Turkish fertility is similar to the Bulgarian majority. The average number of children in 2021 was 1.47 for all women, 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. 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', Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, Jewish and Armenian Apostolic. Women without religion had an average number of 1.40 children.
Regional differencesAs of 2022, the municipality of Tvarditsa has the highest crude birth rate in the country, at 18.4‰, followed by the municipalities of Yablanitsa and Nikolaevo Municipality. All these municipalities have relatively large Romani populations.On the other hand, the municipalities of Georgi Damyanovo, Banite and Nevestino have incredibly low birth rates. These municipalities are almost exclusively inhabited by ethnic Bulgarians. Teenage pregnancyBulgaria 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%.The ten municipalities with the largest absolute number of teenage mothers for 2022 are: Sliven, Sofia, Plovdiv, Pazardzhik, Yambol, Nova Zagora, Burgas, Pleven, Tvarditsa, Stara Zagora, Varna and Haskovo. Life expectancy at birthAverage life expectancy at age 0 of the total population.
Kardzhali Province and Sofia City have the highest life expectancy with 76.6 years for both sexes. The lowest life expectancy is recorded in the Northwestern provinces like Montana, Vratsa and Vidin. ProjectionsThe following forecast for the future population is an official estimate of the National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria.Demographic statisticsDemographic statistics according to the World Population Review.
;Population: ;Ethnic groups: ;Languages: ;Religions: ;Age structure: ;Median age: ;Birth rate: ;Death rate: ;Total fertility rate: ;Net migration rate: ;Population growth rate: ;Mother's mean age at first birth: ;Dependency ratios: ;Urbanization: .rate of urbanization: -0.22% annual rate of change ;Life expectancy at birth: ;Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write ;School life expectancy : ;Unemployment, youth ages 15–24: Sex ratioOf 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.Demographic policiesThe 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 implemented a program for the period 2017 - 2021, the first one aimed at reversing this trend. The program 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 Bulgarian business.Ethnic groupsThe following table shows the ethnic composition of all Provinces of Bulgaria according to the 2021 census: LanguagesThe 2001 census defines an ethnic group as a "community of people, related to each other by origin and language, and close to each other by mode of life and culture"; and one's mother tongue as "the language a person speaks best and usually uses for communication in the family ".According to the 2011 census, among the Bulgarians 99.4% indicate Bulgarian as a mother tongue, 0.3% - Turkish/Balkan gagauz, 0.1% - Roma and 0.1% others; among Turks 96.6% have pointed the Turkish/Balkan Gagauz as a mother tongue and 3.2% - Bulgarian; among the Roma 85% indicate Roma language as a mother tongue, 7.5% - Bulgarian, 6.7% - Turkish/Balkan gagauz and 0.6% - Romanian. ReligionBulgaria's traditional religion according to the constitution is the Orthodox Christianity, while Bulgaria is a secular state too. Since the last two censuses 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.The results of the Bulgarian 2011 Census, in which the indication of answer regarding the question for confession was optional, are as follows:
The results of the Bulgarian 2001 Census by ethnic groups, the latest census in which the indication of identification in the question for confession was obligatory, are as follows: MigrationHistorical migrationThe 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. 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. 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. In 1950-1951, around 150,000 Turks left Bulgaria for Turkey, and again in 1989. Current migrationAccording to the 2011 census Russian citizens are the most numerous foreigners - 11 991, followed by 8 444 EU citizens, 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, followed by persons with Bulgarian and Turkish citizenship - 4 282, Bulgarian and citizenship of the USA- 1 725. 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. In 2016, 12,880 foreigners were naturalized, including 6196 Macedonians.Population by country of birth:
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