For every three Bulgarians in working age from 15 to 64 years old there is one retired person over 65 years of age, according to data from Eurostat analysis on the degree of dependence of the elderly in the EU towards the working population in the EU in 2017, reports mediapool.

This means that at about 4.4 million working-age Bulgarians there are respectively 1.4 million people over age 65 or 31.8%, according to European statistics.

The EU average for the dependence of Europeans on 65 and over years to the adult population is 19.4%.

According to the data of the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute for 2017, the process of population aging in Bulgaria was higher among women, compared to men - the relative share of women in our country at the age of 65 was 24 percent and for men - 17.4 percent. This difference is explained by the higher mortality rate among the male half of the population in Bulgaria, which leads to lower life expectancy.

Last year, the average life expectancy in our country was 75.5 years, for women it was 79 years of age and for men - 72 years.
In the regional aspect, the regions with the highest percentage of the adult population are Vidin - 29 per cent, Gabrovo - 28 per cent and
Kyustendil - 27 per cent.

The lowest share of the adult population is in the capital Sofia - 17% and Varna - 18%. Almost one out of every five people in the EU from the adult population of the EU in 2017 was aged 65 or over years, representing a population of nearly 100 million people in this age category or 19.4 percent, shows Eurostat analysis.

The ratio of elderly - working age population was highest in Italy - 35 percent, Greece - 34 percent, and Finland - 33 percent, followed by Portugal - 32.5 and Germany - 32.4 percent. By this indicator our country is ranks after Germany - 31.8 percent.

At the opposite end of the scale, the lowest ratios elderly - working age population were registered in Luxembourg - 20.5 percent and Ireland - 20.7 percent, Slovakia - 21.5 per cent and Cyprus - 22.8 percent.