January 6 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria’s population shrank by 11% to 6.52 million in the past decade, its sharpest decrease registered to date, the statistics office said on Thursday, citing preliminary data from a census held last year.
As much as 47% of the population decline was due to migration, the statistical office said in a press release.
Between 2011 and 2021 the share of people over 65 years grew by 5.4 percentage points (pp) to 23.9% of the total population, while people under 18 decreased by 0.2 pp to 15.9%.
The share of people in economically active age decreased by 5.1 pp to 60.3% over the ten-year period.
The census, Bulgaria's 18th, was conducted from September 7 to October 10 through both online census software and household visits.
It found out that an average Bulgarian household comprises 2.3 people.
Women make 52.1% of the population.
The final census data is to be published in the second half of 2022.