April 19 (BTA) - Plovdiv is the most preferred Bulgarian city for internal migration, Plovdiv City Hall's press centre said Monday. The press release quotes data for 2020, according to which 21,320 people out of last year's 197,242 internal migrants moved to Plovdiv Region.

According to the National Statistical Institute's report on population and demographic processes in 2020, 37,364 people changed their current address from a foreign to a Bulgarian one. Of them, 47.6 per cent were aged under 39 and 80 per cent were at a working age. Nearly 3,000 of them moved to Plovdiv Region, bringing the total number of its new residents to more than 24,000. The city of Plovdiv, in particular, increased its population by over 9,000 people, up by 1,500 people from 2019.

An upward trend in mechanical population growth was observed in almost all small settlements in Plovdiv Region, particularly in the municipalities of Maritsa and Rodopi where the population grew by 4,469.

Plovdiv and the nearby settlements are home to over 500,000 people, according to NSI data based only on registered residents. A total of 666,398 people (9.6 per cent of Bulgaria's population) are registered as permanent residents of Plovdiv Region, the press release says.

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