The Institute for Population and Human Research at the BAS will present data on the declining demographic and economic viability of 75% of municipalities in Bulgaria, BNT reported.
Among the main topics that will be touched upon is how to reduce the negative effects of the overconcentration of the population in several cities and to revive part of the dying rural areas. In recent years, more and more regions in the country have been depopulated, which has a serious effect on their economic development.
According to the latest data of NSI, the largest part of the population is concentrated in the capital and in 7 other municipalities, which have a population of over 100 thousand people. These are Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Stara Zagora, Ruse, Sliven and Pleven. 40.8% of the entire population of the country lives in these 8 municipalities.
At the end of last year, out of a total of 265 municipalities in the country, 142 had a population of less than 10,000 people.