Post by TheTravelBug on Apr 8, 2011 6:34:44 GMT
Friday 8th April: Sofia Echo
Sofia's motto is Grows but Does not Age. Bulgaria's capital city could be the only place in the country where that adage rings true; the opposite is the case everywhere else, according to the preliminary results of the census held in February 2011, announced by the National Statistics Institute (NSI) on April 5.
The census provided new specific figures to confirm the trend that Bulgaria's population was shrinking even as the average age creeps ever higher, as evidenced previously by NSI's annual estimates.
In the decade since the previous census, Bulgaria's population declined by 581 750 people and stood at 7.35 million. Women accounted for 51 per cent of the population, with the population ratio increasing to 1053 women for every 1000 men, compared to 1052 in the previous count.
It was the third consecutive census to show a population decline, with growth last recorded in 1985, when Bulgaria's population peaked at 8.95 million.
The trend held no immediate threat, with the share of the economically active in the 18-64 age bracket increasing to 65.2 per cent, compared to 63.9 per cent in the 2001 census and 62.2 per cent in the 1992 count. But the number of people aged over 65 continued to increase, reaching 18.9 per cent (up from 16.8 per cent and 14.3 per cent in 2001 and 1992, respectively). Under-age numbers showed the most drastic change, declining to 15.9 per cent, compared to 19.4 per cent in 2001 and 23.5 per cent in 1992.
NSI attributed the bulk of the decline to natural causes – more deaths and fewer births – which accounted for about 389 100 fewer people compared to the previous count. Immigration was only half as big, with about 192 700 people leaving the country, compared to 217 800 people in the previous census period. NSI's methodology counted as emigrants all those who had left Bulgaria at least one year prior to the census date.
Internal migration was the other known major trend to be confirmed by new data. Five of Bulgaria's 28 administrative regions showed a net increase in population due to migration, with more people coming in than leaving, but only two – Sofia and Varna – recorded an increase in overall population. In Varna's case that was only 6000 people, leaving Sofia as the main destination of internal migrants as its population grew by about 185 500 people.
The census put Sofia's population at 1.36 million people, or 18.5 per cent of the total population of Bulgaria, including 1.27 million in the city proper, the rest spread among the adjoining towns and villages that are part of the Sofia municipality, but not the city. Some immediate reactions to the figures in Bulgarian media qualified the number as lower than it really was, with speculation running rampant that some online census-takers had misrepresented their whereabouts.
Bulgaria was becoming increasingly urbanised, with 72.9 per cent of the population concentrated in 255 cities and towns. The seven biggest of them, with a population of more than 100 000 each – Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Bourgas, Rousse, Stara Zagora and Pleven – combined to house 34.3 per cent of the country's population.
NSI census-takers found no residents in 186 villages, a third of them in the Gabrovo region, with similar population exodus recorded in northeastern Bulgaria, the poorest region in the European Union in terms of regional gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, according to data from the bloc's statistics bureau Eurostat.
The population of Vidin, Vratsa and Montana regions declined by more than 20 per cent during the past decade. Not surprisingly, these regions also report some of the highest unemployment rates in the country. The exodus of the economically active has pushed the ratio of those aged 65 or higher in Vidin region to 36.3 per cent, the highest in the country, followed by Montana and Gabrovo with 24.2 per cent. The lowest ratio of retired people was in Blagoevgrad (16.1 per cent), Sofia and Varna (16.3 per cent), and Bourgas (16.5 per cent).
NSI's preliminary results did not give a breakdown of Bulgaria's population by ethnicity, religion or education.
Sofia's motto is Grows but Does not Age. Bulgaria's capital city could be the only place in the country where that adage rings true; the opposite is the case everywhere else, according to the preliminary results of the census held in February 2011, announced by the National Statistics Institute (NSI) on April 5.
The census provided new specific figures to confirm the trend that Bulgaria's population was shrinking even as the average age creeps ever higher, as evidenced previously by NSI's annual estimates.
In the decade since the previous census, Bulgaria's population declined by 581 750 people and stood at 7.35 million. Women accounted for 51 per cent of the population, with the population ratio increasing to 1053 women for every 1000 men, compared to 1052 in the previous count.
It was the third consecutive census to show a population decline, with growth last recorded in 1985, when Bulgaria's population peaked at 8.95 million.
The trend held no immediate threat, with the share of the economically active in the 18-64 age bracket increasing to 65.2 per cent, compared to 63.9 per cent in the 2001 census and 62.2 per cent in the 1992 count. But the number of people aged over 65 continued to increase, reaching 18.9 per cent (up from 16.8 per cent and 14.3 per cent in 2001 and 1992, respectively). Under-age numbers showed the most drastic change, declining to 15.9 per cent, compared to 19.4 per cent in 2001 and 23.5 per cent in 1992.
NSI attributed the bulk of the decline to natural causes – more deaths and fewer births – which accounted for about 389 100 fewer people compared to the previous count. Immigration was only half as big, with about 192 700 people leaving the country, compared to 217 800 people in the previous census period. NSI's methodology counted as emigrants all those who had left Bulgaria at least one year prior to the census date.
Internal migration was the other known major trend to be confirmed by new data. Five of Bulgaria's 28 administrative regions showed a net increase in population due to migration, with more people coming in than leaving, but only two – Sofia and Varna – recorded an increase in overall population. In Varna's case that was only 6000 people, leaving Sofia as the main destination of internal migrants as its population grew by about 185 500 people.
The census put Sofia's population at 1.36 million people, or 18.5 per cent of the total population of Bulgaria, including 1.27 million in the city proper, the rest spread among the adjoining towns and villages that are part of the Sofia municipality, but not the city. Some immediate reactions to the figures in Bulgarian media qualified the number as lower than it really was, with speculation running rampant that some online census-takers had misrepresented their whereabouts.
Bulgaria was becoming increasingly urbanised, with 72.9 per cent of the population concentrated in 255 cities and towns. The seven biggest of them, with a population of more than 100 000 each – Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Bourgas, Rousse, Stara Zagora and Pleven – combined to house 34.3 per cent of the country's population.
NSI census-takers found no residents in 186 villages, a third of them in the Gabrovo region, with similar population exodus recorded in northeastern Bulgaria, the poorest region in the European Union in terms of regional gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, according to data from the bloc's statistics bureau Eurostat.
The population of Vidin, Vratsa and Montana regions declined by more than 20 per cent during the past decade. Not surprisingly, these regions also report some of the highest unemployment rates in the country. The exodus of the economically active has pushed the ratio of those aged 65 or higher in Vidin region to 36.3 per cent, the highest in the country, followed by Montana and Gabrovo with 24.2 per cent. The lowest ratio of retired people was in Blagoevgrad (16.1 per cent), Sofia and Varna (16.3 per cent), and Bourgas (16.5 per cent).
NSI's preliminary results did not give a breakdown of Bulgaria's population by ethnicity, religion or education.