Bulgaria`s population numbered 8 149 500 by December 31, 2000, the data from National Statistical Institute (NSI), showed. The population figure dropped by 41 408 in 2000 due to the difference between the number of births and deaths. The discrepancy with the data from the census on the March 1 this year, which has the country`s population at 7 923 000 stems from the fact that the census did not encompass people who have left the country for more than a year. The population figure has dropped due to the high mortality rate, and not due to a decline in the birth rate, which has stabilized. Latvia is the only EU membership candidate to have a worse population growth than Bulgaria - minus 5,5 per 1000 population. All Eastern European countries have a negative population growth with the exception of Slovakia, which has a positive growth of less than 1 per 1000 population, NSI said.

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