site.btaBulgaria's Population Totals 7,202,198 at End-2014, Down 0.6% on 2013

Bulgaria's Population Totals 7,202,198 at End-2014, Down 0.6% on 2013

Sofia, April 17 (BTA) - Bulgaria had a population of 7,202,198 
at December 31, 2014, 1.4 per cent of the EU's population. It 
ranked 16th immediately below Austria (8,507,000 population) and
  above Denmark (5,627,000 population). Compared to the end of 
2013, Bulgaria's population shrank by 43,479 people (0.6 per 
cent), according to final data of the National Statistical 
Institute.

The current demographic picture is characterized by a steady 
decrease and ageing of the population and a high mortality rate.
  The positive trends in 2014 were an increase in live births
and  an increasing life expectancy at birth.

The male population was 3,502, 015 (48.6 per cent), and the 
female population was 3,700,183 (51.4 per cent). The men to 
women ratio was 1,000 to 1,057. Men outnumbered women in the 
under-51 age group. The number and proportion of women in the 
total population increased among the elderly.

The ageing of the population continued. At the end of 2015, 
people aged 65 or over numbered 1,440,329 and accounted for 20 
per cent of the population. This was 0.4 percentage points more
 than in 2013, and 3.1 percentage points more than in 2001.

The working-age population was 4,403,000 (61.1 per cent of the 
total), of whom 2,310,000 were men and 2,093,000 were women. The
  working-age population decreased by more than 68,000 persons 
(1.5 per cent) from 2013. 

The population above working age totalled 1,734,000 people (24.1
  per cent). The population below working age numbered 1,065,000
  (14.8 per cent).

The urban population was 5,267,480, 73.1 per cent of the total
population. The rural population was 1,934,718, 26.9 per cent of
 the total population. At the end of 2014 Bulgaria had 5,266
settlements, of which 257 towns and 5,009 villages. The
distribution of urban and rural population is the result of its
natural increase and migration, as well as of changes in the
country's administrative structure. The Council of Ministers
closed two settlements in 2014, one of which was annexed to
another settlement.     

There were 164 settlements without population at the end of
2014. The largest number of them were in Gabrovo Region (61) and
 Veliko Turnovo Region (57). Seven cities had a population of
over 100,000; 34.6 per cent of the country's population lives in
 them. The population of 1,135 settlements (21.6 per cent of the
 total) was between one and 49 persons.

Nearly half of the population (49.6 per cent) lives in the South
 Western and the South Central Region - 2,125,000 (29.5 per
cent) and 1,446,000 (20.1 per cent), respectively. The South
Eastern and North Eastern Regions come next, with 14.7 per cent
and 13.2 per cent of the total population respectively. The
North Central Region accounts for 11.5 per cent of the
population, and the North Western Region is the least populous,
with 797,000 people, 11.1 per cent of the total population.  

Vidin Region has the smallest population of 93,361 (1.3 per cent
 of the total). Sofia Region had the largest population of
1,316,557 (18.3 per cent of the total). Sixteen regions have a
population of less than 200,000 and account for 30.6 per cent of
 the total. Six regions have a population between 200,000 and
300,000 and account for 20.5 per cent of the total. Another six
regions have a population of more than 300,000, and 34.2 per
cent of the country's population lives in the top three of them
- Sofia (capital), Plovdiv and Varna.

Two regions saw an increase in population in 2014 from 2013 -
Sofia (capital) by 0.5 per cent and Kurdjali by 1 per cent. All
other regions saw a decrease, which was most significant in
Vidin Region (2.2 per cent) and Smolyan Region (1.9 per cent).