site.btaAs of December 31, 2020 Bulgaria's Population Numbered 6,916,548, Down by 34,934 Y/Y - Statistics

April 12 (BTA) - At December 31, 2020, BulgariaТs population numbered 6,916,548, the National Statistical Institute said Monday. Compared to 2019, the population of the country decreased by 34,934, or 0.5 per cent.

Men numbered 3,349,715 (48.4 per cent) and women 3,566,833 (51.6 per cent), or 1,065 women per 1,000 men. The number of men prevails in the ages below 54. The share of females in the total population increases among the elderly.

The Bulgarian population continues to age and shrink. The number of live births and crude birth rate decrease, the number of deaths and crude death rate increase, child death rate is in decline, as is the number of civil marriages and divorces.

At the end of 2020 people aged 65 and over numbered 1,504,048, or 21.8 per cent of the population. Compared to 2019, the share of this age group increased by 0.2 percentage points. In regional terms, the share of people over 65 is largest in Vidin region (30 per cent), followed by Gabrovo (29.1 per cent) and Kyustendil (27.7 per cent). Sofia (capital) and Varna are the regions with the lowest share of ageing population at 17. Per cent and 19.4 per cent respectively.

At the end of 2020, people over 65 made up 21.8 per cent of the population, increasing by 0.2 percentage points from 2019. The ageing is more pronounced among women. The share of older people is largest in the northern regions of Vidin (30 per cent) and Gabrivi (29.1 per cent), and Kyustendil in the south (27.7). It is smallest in Sofia (17.7 per cent) and Varna, on the Black Sea, at 19.4 per cent.

At December 31, 2020, children under 15 in Bulgaria numbered 999,014, or 14.4 per cent of the population, unchanged from a year before. The relative share of the population below 15 is highest in the regions of Sliven (18.5 per cent) and Bourgas (15.5 per cent). This share is below the national average in 17 regions, the lowest being in Smolyan (11.5 per cent) and Gabrovo (11.6 per cent).

The age dependency ratio in Bulgaria was 56.7 per cent, or less than two persons at "independent" age per one dependent person aged under 15 or over 65. In comparison, in 2019 this ratio stood at 56.4 per cent. It is more favourable in urban areas (53.5 per cent) than in rural ones (65.9 per cent). This indicator is above 50 in all regions in the country with the exception of the capital Sofia where it stands at 48.5 per cent, the most unfavourable figures being registered in the regions of Vidin (72.1 per cent), Габрово (68.8 per cent) and Lovech (68.2 per cent).

Population ageing leads to an increase of the mean age from 40.4 years in 2001 to 44.0 years at the end of 2020.

At December 31, 2020, working age people totalled 4,139,000, or 59.8 per cent of the population, including 2,168,000 men and 1,971,000 women. In 2020 the number declined by 17,000 or 0.4 per cent year-on-year./RI/BR/