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Bulgaria — Population
Population, Total for Bulgaria, 1960–2025.
Latest value · 2025
6.43 million
Population, Total · people · -18.2% since 1960
Population for Bulgaria was 6.43 million in 2025, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 66 years, from 1960 to 2025. The highest recorded value was 8.98 million in 1988. Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to -0.31% per year.
Bulgaria ranks 111 of 217 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 51%. The median for Europe & Central Asia is 6.01 million, so Bulgaria sits above it. It peaked in 1988 and has fallen 28% since. Over the last decade (2015–2025) the figure moved down 8%.
Key figures
Latest (2025)
6.43 million
First (1960)
7.87 million
Change
-18.2%
Highest
8.98 million
in 1988
Lowest
6.43 million
in 2025
Average
8.01 million
Annual growth (CAGR)
-0.31%
Years of data
66
Recent years
| Year | people |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 6,433,302 |
| 2024 | 6,441,421 |
| 2023 | 6,446,596 |
| 2022 | 6,465,097 |
| 2021 | 6,507,301 |
| 2020 | 6,550,696 |
| 2019 | 6,616,726 |
| 2018 | 6,710,798 |
| 2017 | 6,803,468 |
| 2016 | 6,894,139 |
| 2015 | 6,984,225 |
| 2014 | 7,073,572 |
Reading this correctly. Total population based on the de facto definition, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship. Figures are in people. Comparing this series with a different measure of the same concept (for example a nominal figure against a purchasing-power-parity figure) will give misleading results.
Related data
Source. World Bank Open Data, indicator
SP.POP.TOTL — Population, Total. Data licensed under CC BY 4.0. Values are reproduced as published; this page computes the summary statistics (change, CAGR, extremes) from the underlying annual series. View the original dataset on data.worldbank.org.