Bulgaria continues to lose population, entire villages are left without inhabitants, while at the same time houses are being built and remain empty. The labor market suffers from a shortage of labor, while the feeling of inflation often diverges from statistical data.
This is shown by the latest analyses of national statistics on demography, economy and lifestyle in our country. A guest in the studio of "The Day Begins with Georgi Lyubenov" was the chairman of the National Statistical Institute Atanas Atanasov.
On the eve of elections, the topic of voter lists comes to the fore again. Census data is often compared with the number of people entitled to vote, which raises questions about discrepancies.
"The National Statistical Institute has no commitments to the voter lists. In fact, there was an idea to change the Electoral Code, as the idea was for the NSI to make lists, but this idea was dropped. At least because it is not the NSI's job to deal with elections. We are an independent institution, our job is completely different", noted Atanasov.
According to census data, for example, in Vidin the population is about 70,000 people, while those with the right to vote are more. This raises doubts, which, however, have a logical explanation.
"There is no discrepancy. The NSI researches how much the population is in the country. Including foreigners who are on the territory of the country. While the right to choose is vested in Bulgarian citizens under the Constitution, regardless of whether they are in the country itself or abroad, they have the right to vote," the head of the NSI explained.
The expectations are that the population of Bulgaria will remain around 6.4 million people, without significant deviations.
"I do not think there will be any significant deviation from this number. Around 6 million and 400 thousand," he said.
However, demographic processes are long-term and difficult to reverse:
"Demographic trends are extremely stable. They can rarely change quickly, so these trends continue for years in a row."
The decline in population began in the 1980s.
"The demographic trend towards population decline is not new. It dates back to 1985, when Bulgaria had a population of almost 9 million," Atanasov specified.
In addition to the low birth rate, migration processes also have an impact:
"Of course, during these years, a part of the population migrated abroad. Another part migrated internally, mostly to larger cities, including Sofia."
The data show serious regional imbalances. In some areas, the population is decreasing dramatically.
"For example, the population of Vidin between the last two censuses, i.e. in just 10 years, had decreased by a quarter. Smolyan, despite being a regional city, currently has a population of about 24 thousand."
The picture in the country is even more indicative when you look at the small settlements.
"There are just over 5,200 settlements in Bulgaria. A large part of these settlements are depopulated. I will give one example - almost 200 settlements in Bulgaria, despite having the status of a settlement, do not have a single resident."
Internal migration is clearly expressed - people are heading to the big cities.
"There is always migration to the larger settlements. It is normal. Except for Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, of course. Burgas has also pulled a lot in recent years. Today, only about a quarter of the population lives in the villages. The demographic structure also shows a preponderance of women: "It is normal that there are more women... In fact, in Bulgaria, the difference between the life expectancy of men and women is more than 7 years. There are about 108 women for every 100 men," Atanasov explained. Despite the declining population, construction in the country continues to grow: "There is a large part of the new construction that is actually empty." The reason is in the way Bulgarians save and invest: One of the few options is to save in Bulgaria, to invest in real estate. that's why people in Bulgaria invest in real estate," he said.
One of the most discussed topics remains inflation and the perception of it:
"We measure the inflation of all 6,400,000 people in Bulgaria, and we do not measure the inflation of an individual person… each person is an individual and each person is different. That is why personal inflation is different from the inflation, which is average for the entire country", explained the head of the NSI.
The share of food expenses is gradually decreasing – an indicator of increasing living standards:
"Currently, the share that households spend on food is below 30%… In the 1990s, it reached 50%."
The labor market is characterized by low unemployment and growing wages:
"Bulgaria has an extremely low unemployment rate… in Sofia there is almost no unemployment… we have a shortage of labor", Atanasov pointed out and added that this leads to significant differences in income: "In Sofia – 3,500 leva compared to 2,500 for the country."
A curious but little-known fact is the existence of stateless people:
"According to UN estimates, there are over 10 million people in the world who do not have any citizenship… In Bulgaria there are just over 500 people."
The data paints a clear picture – Bulgaria continues to face demographic decline, regional inequalities and economic contradictions, but also signs of a gradual increase in living standards and an active labor market.