According to the latest figures of the National Statistical Institute (NSI), which were published on Friday, the Bulgarian population decreased by 0.6 % in 2014.

The population measured 7 202 198 people at the end of 2014, which represented a decrease with 43 479 people compared to 2013.

The Bulgarian population represented 1.4 % of the population of the EU and according to this indicator the country ranked 16^th, being behind Austria and ahead of Denmark.

The current demographic trend is characterised with continuing decrease and aging of the population and sustained high levels of child mortality.

The positive trends in 2014 were the increase in live births and the rising average life expectancy of the population.

Bulgarian women numbered 3 700 183 or 51.4 % of the population, while men amounted to 3 502 015 (48.6 %), which meant that there were 1057 women for every 1000 men.

The aging of the population continued, with the number of the people aged above 65 years amounting to 1 440 329 or 20 % of the population, which is an increase of 0.4 % compared to 2013.

The process of aging is more marked among women than men as the relative share of women aged above 65 years is 23.2 %, while the corresponding figure among men is 16.6 %.

This trend is largely due to the higher mortality rate among men and the resulting lower life expectancy.

In regional aspect, the share of people aged 65 years was the highest in the districts of Vidin, Gabrovo and Lovech.

The share of this age category was above 20 % in a total of seventeen districts, with their share being the lowest in Sofia, Blagoevgrad, Varna and Burgas.

The process of aging is typical for most member states of the EU, with the share of people aged above 65 % being the highest in Italy, Germany and Greece.

The number of children aged under 15 years in Bulgaria amounted to 998 196 at the end of 2014, representing 13.9 % of the total population, which was an increase of 0.2 % compared to 2013.

The relative share of the population aged under 15 years was the highest in the districts of Sliven and Burgas.

The share of this age category was lower than the average for the country in a total of sixteen districts, being the lowest in the districts of Gabrovo, Smolyan, Pernik and Kyustendil.

The share of the youngest age category in the EU was the lowest in Germany, Bulgaria and Italy, while it was the highest in Ireland and France.

The aging of the population also lead to the increase in the average age, which rose from 40.4 years in 2001 to 43.2 at the end of 2014.

The process of aging is visible both in the towns and the villages, with the average age in the towns being 42.1 years, while that in the villages amounted to 46 years.

The majority of the Bulgarian population (73.1 %) resided in the towns, while 1 934 718 inhabited the villages.

At the end of 2014 there were 5266 places of residence in Bulgaria, 257 of them being towns and 5009 villages.

There were seven cities with population above 100 000 residents – Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Ruse, Stara Zagora and Pleven, which were inhabited by 34.6 % of Bulgarians.

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