More than a Quarter of the Immigrants in Bulgaria are from Russia

Society | December 15, 2017, Friday // 13:46
Bulgaria: More than a Quarter of the Immigrants in Bulgaria are from Russia Source: Pixabay

Bulgaria is among the countries of the European Union (EU) with the largest share of immigrants from third countries compared to the population and among those with the smallest share of people from EU countries. This shows data from the European Statistics Office Eurostat for 2015 on the occasion of the International Immigrants Day, which is celebrated on 18 December.

In total, in the year 2015, 25,223 people settled in Bulgaria. Of these, 51% are non-EU nationals. Russia has largest share (27%), followed by Syrians, Turks, Ukrainians and Britons. At the same time, our country is among the EU countries with the lowest share of immigrants from member states of the bloc with a share of 6%. Before us is only Lithuania with 4 per cent. Bulgaria remains among the countries with a larger number of emigrants compared to immigrants, Eurostat data show.

A total of 4.7 million people have migrated to one of the 28 EU Member States in 2015. This figure includes both immigration from non-EU countries and immigration flows between the countries of the Union. The term "immigrant" refers to a person who has entered a Member State in order to establish in its territory for a period longer than one year. Half (2.4 million) of all immigrants were non-EU nationals, with 1.4 million (30%) having a nationality from another EU Member State.

Some 900,000 people have returned to their native countries, the survey shows. Just under 1 per cent (about 19,000) were stateless immigrants. The share of migrants returning home to Romania and Lithuania is the largest - 85% and 83% of immigrants in both countries in 2015 respectively. Followed by Hungary 56%, Croatia 55%, Latvia 52%, Estonia 52% and Portugal by 50%. In addition, Bulgaria, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Latvia and Lithuania are the countries where migration emigration still prevails. Nearly a third of immigrants (1.54 million of the total EU) in 2015 were in Germany, followed by the United Kingdom (631 000 or 14%), France (364 000 or 8%), Spain (342 000 or 7%) and Italy (280,000 or 6%).

Germany ranks first in the EU in emigrants (347,000), followed by Spain (344,000), Great Britain (300,000), France (298,000) and Poland (259,000).

Immigrants may also be nationals of the country in which they return after years abroad. Returning citizens are at least 1 in 10 immigrants in almost all EU Member States except Luxembourg (5%), Germany and Austria (both 6%).

Non-EU citizens account for more than half of all immigrants in seven Member States - Italy (67%), Slovenia (64%), Germany (63%), Sweden (58%). Only 7% of immigrants in Romania and 10% in Slovakia are not EU citizens. Luxembourg is the country in the EU with the largest share of immigrants from other Member States (69% of all immigrants). This happens amid the concentration of European institutions there. Following are the Czech Republic (49%) and Slovakia (44%). 

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!

Society » Be a reporter: Write and send your article
Tags: immigrants, emigrants, EU, eurostat

Advertisement
Advertisement
Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news provider in English that informs its readers about the latest Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily online newspaper "Sofia Morning News." Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) and Sofia Morning News publish the latest economic, political and cultural news that take place in Bulgaria. Foreign media analysis on Bulgaria and World News in Brief are also part of the web site and the online newspaper. News Bulgaria