Bulgaria is becoming a country with a continuously decreasing population, and the population is literally disappearing from entire territories of the country. This was stated to the Bulgarian National Radio by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Spas Tashev - a demographer from the Institute for Population and Human Research at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
"The data indicate two parallel worrying trends. On the one hand, Bulgaria is becoming a country with a continuously decreasing population, and at the same time this decreasing population has clearly expressed spatial dimensions, and the population is literally disappearing from entire territories of the country. Some of my colleagues are already using the term demographic desert, by which they mean less than 10 people per square kilometer. We have mountainous and semi-mountainous regions, which are to some extent distinguished by having a lower population density, but in any case, with such a small number of concentrated populations in these regions, a number of difficulties arise in the social sphere, in the economic sphere, in infrastructure, and I would say in national security - there, in practice, the state does not have full sovereignty," he specified in an interview for the program "12+4".
Assoc. Prof. Tashev pointed to the southwestern region as a demographic desert. And more:
"In recent years, the Rhodopes have been overtaking the southwestern region in terms of depopulation. The northeastern region, which has long been the breadbasket of Bulgaria, also shows signs of depopulation there. Not to mention that in the Sofia region, i.e. in settlements close to Sofia, desertification is also observed".
The expert also commented on the National Concept for Regional and Spatial Development until 2040 adopted by the government, in which demography is directly mentioned as problem number 1. Assoc. Prof. Tashev believes that it will not lead to a solution to the demographic crisis.
According to him, there is a large territorial disproportion, giving the example that 1/3 of young people live in the western region, mainly because of Sofia-city. This creates future structural problems for the demographic development of Bulgaria, if measures are not taken at the moment, he warned and highlighted the importance of the successful regionalization of the economy, but also of the development of infrastructure, including the creation of medical and educational facilities, coverage of the territory with the Internet, etc.
Assoc. Prof. Tashev announced one of the ideas in this direction - the creation of a Map of Opportunities, in which employers can enter the need for a workforce, as well as the level of pay. It should also reflect the available housing stock, health and educational institutions, etc.