Press releases

In April 2025, the number of trips of Bulgarian residents abroad was 779.3 thousand, or 10.1% above the registered in April 2024. An increase in the trips with all observed purposes was registered.

The number of visits of non-residents to Bulgaria was 797.8 thousand, or 0.6% more in comparison with the same month of the previous year. An increase by 7.1% was registered in the trips with holiday and recreation purposes and by 0.9% with professional purposes, while those with other purposes decreased by 3.8%. Transit passes through the country were 31.0% (246.9 thousand) of all visits of non-residents to Bulgaria.

In the first quarter of 2025, 1.1 million Bulgarian residents made tourist trips. The majority of them - 75.7%, travelled only in the country, 20.0% - only abroad, and 4.3% - both in the country and abroad. Compared to the same quarter of 2024, the total number of travelled persons aged 15 and over increased by 1.2%.

The total length of the national road network in Bulgaria at 31.12.2023 was 19 968 km, which is 18 km more than in 2023.

The length of the bituminized and unpaved roads increased by 30 and 7 km respectively, while the crushed-stone and coarse-aggregate roads decreased by 19 km in comparison with the previous year.

Detailed data are published on the website of NSI under the heading ‘National road network’.

In 2024 the railway freight transport registered a drop in both the goods carried and the performance - of 8.5 and 4.1% respectively, compared to the previous year.

The number of the transported passengers decreased by 3.1% and the performance - by 5.9%.

Detailed data are published on the website of NSI under the heading ‘Railway transport’.

In the first quarter of 2025, the goods carried by land and water freight transport marked a 5.8% increase, while the transport performance fell by 2.5% in comparison with the same quarter of 2024.

The number of passengers as well as the transport performance of passenger transport (land, water and urban electrical transport) dropped by 1.7% and 19.1%, respectively. The data are preliminary and seasonally adjusted.

In the first quarter of 2025, compared to the same period of the previous year:

• The goods carried by land transported rose by 7.3%, while the transport performance decreased by 3.0%;
• The inland waterway and maritime transport carried 362.8 thousand tonnes less goods, while the performance, measured in tonne-kilometers, recorded a 16.7% rise;
• The number of passengers carried by land transport dropped by 5.4% and the performance declined by 24.7%;
• The water passenger transport reported a fall of 17.5 thousand in passenger numbers, while the performance increased by 0.8 million passenger-kilometres;
• The urban electric transport enterprises carried 2.9 thousand passengers more and the performance rose by 8.0%.

In the first quarter of 2025, the expenditure on acquisition of tangible fixed assets in all sectors of the economy amounted to 6 118 million BGN, which is 9.5% more compared to the first quarter of 2024. The data are preliminary.

Detailed data are published on the website of NSI under the heading ‘Investments’.

In 2024, in Bulgaria were operating the following cultural institutions:

• 188 museums with museum collection of 7 733 thousand units;
• 81 theatres, which organized 16 586 performances;
• 49 libraries with library collection over 200 thousand library units;
• 84 cinemas with 240 cinema screens.

Life expectancy at birth of the Bulgarian population, calculated for the period 2022 - 2024, is 75.6 years.

Life expectancy at birth for the male population is 71.9 years, while for the female population it is by 7.4 years higher - 79.3 years.

According to the results from the Labour Force Survey, in the first quarter of 2025:

- The unemployment rate was 3.9%, by 1.1 percentage points lower compared to the first quarter of 2024;

- The employment rate of the population aged 15 - 64 increased by 0.2 percentage points in comparison with the same quarter of 2024 and stood at 70.4%;

- The activity rate of the population aged 15 - 64 was 73.3%, by 0.7 percentage points lower compared to the first quarter of 2024.

The data are from the Labour Force Survey - a sample statistical survey. It is carried out over a sample of non-institutional households. Quarterly, through personal interview, about 19.6 thousand households, randomly selected, are observed.

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

• In 2024/2025 school year in pre-primary education (kindergartens and preparatory groups at schools) were enrolled 217.2 thousand children.
• As of 31.12.2024, there were 2 329 schools operating in the country, with 713.5 thousand students enrolled.
• In 2024, the number of basic education graduates was 59.8 thousand students and the number of upper-secondary education graduates was 43.4 thousand students.
• In 2024/2025 academic year, there were 203.5 thousand students enrolled at the different tertiary education levels (professional bachelor, bachelor and master’s).
• As of 31.12.2024, for acquiring a doctor’s educational and scientific degree in the country, 5 029 persons were trained, of whom 574 were foreign citizens.