The coronavirus epidemic is one of the reasons for the rise of mortality in Bulgaria. 124,000 Bulgarians died in the past year while the average annual level in the previous 10 years was about 108,000-110,000 people, Magdalena Kostova of the National Statistical Institute has told Nova TV.

According to her, the numbers were similar to those in 1918, when Bulgaria lost 151,000 people because of World War I. Mortality during the peaks of the epidemic was extremely high. At the same time, the birth rate remains low.

For the first time in years, the population of Sofia decreased and this is due to internal migration in March and April last year, when many people changed their address because of the checkpoints. The fastest depopulating cities are in the northwestern regions of Bulgaria.