Despite the fact population in this country has been declining at a rapid pace, apocalyptic predictions that Bulgarians will disappear as a nation are unfounded. This is what researchers of the Institute for Population and Human Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences /IPHS/ say and recall that in the post-Liberation period there were only three million Bulgarians in this country.

What is the place of Bulgaria in comparison to modern European trends? What is the essence - population growth or improving quality of life? What are the unused human resources that social measures should be directed to in the future? These and many other questions have been discussed by scientists of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, within an interdisciplinary scientific conference organized by the Institute for Population and Human Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

The agenda of the forum included topics of birth, aging, national identity, vulnerable communities and demographic policies in the past – in the 19th and 20th centuries. The purpose of the team that organized the scientific conference was to identify concrete measures to be proposed to the government. These include changes in legislation, employment policies, improved childcare and support for large families.

The experts estimate that at the current rate of depopulation, in the year 2030, the country's population will be about 6,490,000. So far, the trend can not be changed, no matter what action the state would take. "Today's measures could only have result in 2034. It is only after 2040 that a reverse trend can be expected to take place," Prof. Antoaneta Hristova, Director of the Institute, said at the conference.

According to her, the most important question now is how to prepare human resources that would meet the higher demands of the labor market in the future. The time has come to take measures to retain the quality labor force in Bulgaria. Given the aging population, some of the proposed actions are related to the labor market involvement of active older people. According to Prof. Hristova, there will soon be serious reforms related to the direction our country goes in order to remain competitive in the common European market against the background of the general tendency of aging population.

In addition to key processes such as high mortality and low birth rates, which directly affect demographics, scientists have identified economic migration as a major factor in the depopulation of entire regions in Bulgaria. "Demographic problems stemming from migration are serious in Bulgaria, and the motives of Bulgarians leaving the country remain almost the same for the past 30 years," Pavlina Stoyanova, a regular PhD student at IPHS, says, adding:

"After the so-called ‘Big Excursion’ in the mid-1980s, the main reason for migration is now economic. There is a change in trends and the direction of the EU member states is clearly outlined. This is understandable, as there is easy access to labor market. Sending money to relatives in Bulgaria is one of the positive aspects of migration. Another major trend that we take into account is the significant growth in number of young Bulgarians who are leaving to study in EU countries. One out of 3 Bulgarians aged 20 to 30 goes to study abroad. Some of them leave with the attitude of returning to the country after graduation. However, those who have returned face a series of problems. On the one hand there is low remuneration, on the other - the different attitude of Bulgarian employers towards the intellectual and mental potential of people. They also point to the different organization and low productivity of labor in Bulgaria. Another negative phenomenon is that entire families emigrate and permanently settle abroad. Even the share of retired people who choose to go abroad and work abroad has been on the rise. "

English: Alexander Markov