site.btaMigration Trends in 2021 National Census

As of September 7, 2021, 395,690 persons (213,558 women and 182,132 men) declared that they had changed their usual domicile between 2011 and 2021, the National Statistical Institute reported based on data from the final results of the 2021 census.

Men predominate among migrants aged 35 to 54, while women have a higher relative share among younger age groups (under 35 years) and among those 55 and older.

The distribution by ethnicity shows that the most intensive migration process is in the Bulgarian ethnic group - 59.8 per thousand people have changed their usual place of residence during the period under observation, followed by persons who have self-determined to another ethnic group - 37.0 per thousand. The lowest intensity of migration is in the Roma ethnic group - 24.3 per thousand people.

Between 2011 and 2021, 224,000 people, or 56.6% of all migrants, changed their domicile from one city to another within Bulgaria. Persons moving from cities to villages accounted for 88,000, or 22.1%, followed by rural-to-urban migrants at 62,000, or 15.6%. The smallest relative share of migrants changed their residence from one village to another - 22,000, or 5.7% of all migrants.

The highest relative share of those who migrated outside the district in which they live was in the regions of Sofia with 87.8%, Smolyan with 82.4%, and Kyustendil with 77.2%. The lowest share was in the regions of Burgas with 51.0% and Plovdiv with 44.7%.

As of September 7, 2021, 354,138 persons declared that they had resided abroad for more than a year between 1980 and 2021 and returned within the same period.

There were 314,285 Bulgarians (164,833 men and 149,452 women), who returned to the country during the same period, or 88.7% of all those who indicated that they had resided abroad.

Most Bulgarians returned from the United Kingdom - 47,000 or 14.9%, followed by Germany with 41,000 or 13.1%, Spain with 27,000 or 8.7%, and Greece with 27,000 or 8.5%. The largest number of returnees was in 2020 and 2021 - 49,377 people.

There were 39,853 foreign nationals, who arrived in Bulgaria during the monitoring period - 15,808 men and 15,030 women. Citizens of European countries, 77.4%, and Asian countries, 17.8%, predominated. The highest share of foreigners settled in the districts of Sofia with 33.4%, Varna with 13.8%, and Burgas with 11.5%.