A positive trend is observed in terms of average life expectancy, which is starting to rise again and reaches 75.6 years, which is mainly associated with the subsiding impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the government press service reported. The average life expectancy in the European Union is 81.4 years.
The Council of Ministers adopted an Annual Report for 2024 on the state of citizens' health and the implementation of the National Health Strategy 2030, BTA reported.
The general findings on the state of public health are that Bulgaria lags behind EU member states, with chronic non-communicable diseases remaining a serious challenge, which are the main cause of disability, reduced working capacity and death. In 2024, a large number of measures were implemented to improve the quality of health services and the efficiency of the healthcare system, but it should be borne in mind that the real results of the implemented measures in the health sector have a long-term impact.
The data from the report show that in 2024 the birth rate is decreasing, but the total birth rate (8.3%) exceeds the EU average (8.2%). The average age of women at the birth of their first child in 2024 is 27.6 years, and in a regional aspect it varies from 22.1 for Sliven district to 30.9 for Sofia district.
The trend of decreasing mortality continues (15.6 per 1000 people, with 15.7%o for 2023, 18.4%o for 2022 and 21.7%o for 2021), but despite this, Bulgaria continues to have the highest overall mortality rate among EU countries (average 10.8%).
The most common cause of death is diseases of the circulatory system (60.7%), followed by neoplasms (17.0%).
The level of infant mortality (4.5%o) also continues to decrease, approaching the average indicator for the EU - 3.3%. This indicator is indicative of the quality of medical care, but it is greatly influenced by the standard of living and the health culture of the population.
The number of certified and re-certified people with permanently reduced working capacity/type and degree of disability is significant, reaching 193,793 people in 2024, compared to 182,789 people in 2023. The relative share of the age group over 60 years is the highest (51.4%), followed by the age group 50-59 years (27.3%).
The analysis of the key indicators for monitoring the implementation of the National Health Strategy 2030 shows a positive trend in terms of total, infant and premature mortality, life expectancy at birth, years of life in good health at birth, life expectancy and others.
Regarding the indicators of mortality from diseases of the organs of the blood circulation, ischemic heart disease, acute myocardial infarction and cerebrovascular disease also have a positive trend of reduction. The reasons could be a consequence of improving lifestyle, environmental factors, the quality of healthcare, including the introduction of new technologies for early diagnosis and treatment.
Bulgaria significantly lags behind the average levels of healthy living, Spain is the leader in healthy lifestyles, shows an online survey among 27 thousand people from 22 countries, including a thousand people from Bulgaria, conducted in the period February - March 2025 by a pharmaceutical company.