Almost 12% of Bulgarians aged 15-74 likely to move abroad

In 2021, 2.4% of people aged 15 - 74 had already made a decision to change their current residence in the country, and 2.9% intended to move but had not yet decided to. Another 8.5% had a weak desire to migrate, while 86.2% of the people in the respective age group had no desire to migrate. This is according to data from the National Statistical Institute's sample survey on migration behaviour, accompanying Census 2021.

The highest proportion of potential internal migrants was among young people aged 15-19 (7.1%) and 20-29 (6.1%).

In 2021, 11.9% of 15 - 74 year-olds were very or somewhat likely to move to live abroad. Compared to 2011, the proportion of potential movers increased among both men and women.

Another 3.3% of people are potential labour migrants, with men predominating (3.8%). Compared to 2011, this group decreased for both genders. Very or somewhat likely to go abroad to work/learn for a few months but not more than a year applies to 4.7% of the population aged 15 - 74.

The share of people who would go abroad as tourists increased with no gender differences. The highest proportion of tourists was in the 40-49 age group (24%), and the lowest was among those aged 15-19 and 70-74.

The share of non-travellers decreased, from 66.8% for men and 70.4% for women in 2011 to 58.1% for men and 61.6% for women in 2021.