Bulgaria's population declined by nearly 40,000 or 0.05 % over the last year, when it numbered 7, 679, 290, official data shows.

There is a gradual increase in the number of babies born over the last four years, but the large part of them - 70 out of every 100 - come from socially vulnerable groups.

The data was published as the government adopted measures for encouraging baby births, part of the action plan for implementing the national strategy for demographic development.

The measures include one-off social benefits at birth, monthly benefits for raising the child by its first year, as well as monthly injections for helping the child graduate secondary school.

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