Press releases

In March 2022, in the conditions of the continuing epidemic situation, the number of trips of Bulgarian residents abroad was 538.3 thousand, or by 114.1% above the registered in March 2021.

In March 2022, the number of arrivals of visitors from abroad to Bulgaria was 627.8 thousand, or by 118.1% above in comparison with March 2021, as the transit was 46.1% (289.6 thousand) of all visits of foreigners in the country.

The Total Producer Price Index in March 2022 increased by 4.3% compared to the previous month and by 36.1% compared to the same month of 2021. The Producer Price Index on the Domestic Market in March 2022 rose by 4.3% compared to the previous month; compared to the same month of 2021, the domestic prices increased by 45.2%.

In April 2022, the total business climate indicator increases by 4.2 percentage points compared to the previous month. An improvement of the indicator is observed in industry, retail trade and service sector, and in construction a reduction is registered.

In 2021, the average monthly poverty line for the country is 504.33 BGN per person. The number of persons who are below this line is 1 532.4 thousand representing 22.1 % of the population. From 2021, a new indicator of severe material and social deprivation is included in the poverty indicators which shows the lack of necessary and desirable items for living a worthy life. It is calculated as the share of persons in the population who cannot afford 7 out of 13 items – 6 at the individual level and 7 at the household level. This indicator is part of the combined indicator "Population at risk of poverty and social exclusion" for regular monitoring of the progress of countries in meeting national sub-targets in the Europe 2030 strategy.

According to Demography statistics data population of the country as of the end of the 2021 the population is 6 838 937 persons. Compared to the previous year it has decreased by 77 611 persons or by 1.1%.

There are 58 678 live born children in 2021. The number of live births decreases by 408 compared to the previous year.

The number of deaths in 2021 is 148 995 and the crude mortality rate - 21.7‰. Compared to the previous year the number of deaths increases by 24 260.

In 2021, the government deficit and debt of the EU decreased in relative terms compared with 2020. In the EU, the government deficit to GDP ratio shrunk from 6.8% in 2020 to 4.7% in 2021. In the EU, the government debt to GDP ratio decreased from 90.0% at the end of 2020 to 88.1% at the end of 2021.

The number of minors and juveniles registered in the Child pedagogic rooms for anti-social acts and crimes commitment in 2021 was 8 807. In comparison with 2020, their number decreased by 92 or by 1.0%.

The number of minors and juveniles new entrants in the Child pedagogic rooms in 2021 was 2 776 and 2 599 persons were removed from the Child pedagogic rooms.

The main results from the National Statistical Institute (NSI) annual comprehensive surveys characterizing the activity of educational institutions are as follows:

• In 2021/2022 school year in pre-primary education (kindergartens and preparatory groups at schools) were enrolled 214.8 thousand children.
• In 2021, the number of basic education graduates was 58.3 thousand students and graduates from general and vocational schools were respectively 25.2 and 17.8 thousand students.
• In 2021/2022 academic year, there were 220.4 thousand students enrolled at the different tertiary education levels (professional bachelor, bachelor and master’s).
• As of 31.12.2021, for acquiring a doctor’s educational and scientific degree in the country were trained 6 542 persons, of whom 679 were foreign citizens.

According to preliminary data from the National Statistical Institute, the General Government Institutional Sector reported in 2021 a deficit of 5 433 million BGN, or 4.1% of GDP.

The Government Debt of Bulgaria for 2021 is 33 277 million BGN, or 25.1% of GDP.

Since September 2021 the National statistical institute has started work under the ‘Income and Living Conditions (ILC) - Statistical infrastructure under IESS - SILC 2022 module - 2021 and 2022 Infra-annual data collection’ project, the implementation of which is in accordance with Grant Agreement with the European Commission N 101052273 - 2021-BG-ILC-SILC. The project activities include a pilot data collection using additional questionnaire on social inclusion, living conditions and well-being under the Household budget survey. The additional survey was initiated by Eurostat and it is conducted according to a harmonized methodology within the European survey Infra-annual data collection on living conditions (IALC). The objective is to conduct a quarterly monitoring of the changes in the living conditions of households in the country as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and to provide an up-to-date information for harmonized European comparisons.

The results of the additional survey can be viewed in the press releases under the heading "Income, expenditure and consumption of households".