[size=55:33kxhrz3]Sofia echo 07 September 2010

How many foreigners live in Bulgaria?

European Union statistics office Eurostat, in figures released on September 7 2010, proclaimed Bulgaria to be among the EU countries with the lowest numbers of foreigners – but there is a significant difference between Eurostat’s figures and those held locally.

According to the Eurostat statistics, for January 1 2009, there were 23 800 foreigners in Bulgaria, of whom 20 300 were from non-EU countries and 3500 were from EU countries.

This meant that foreigners resident in Bulgaria made up 0.3 per cent of the country’s population, making it one of three EU states with less than one per cent foreigners, according to Eurostat.

Eurostat's definition of foreigners includes those who are non-citizens, or those whose citizenship is "
unknown"
or who are stateless.

However, Bulgaria’s National Statistics Institute has very different figures – even if allowance is made for the fact that the two numbers are dated a year apart. Bulgaria's definition of a foreigner, for statistical purposes, is similar to that used by Eurostat.

Quoting the country’s Interior Ministry as its source, the institute said that as December 31 2009, there were 69 423 foreigners permanently resident in Bulgaria.

Of these, according to the Bulgarian figures, 47 436 were from Europe (6948 from EU countries and 42 431 from non-EU countries), 9888 from Asia, 651 from Africa and 890 from the Americas, including 412 from the United States.

The Interior Ministry figures quoted by the National Statistical Institute identified those from Australia and New Zealand as the smallest category of foreigners with permanent residence, while other numbers included 2171 stateless people, 6372 listed as "
ex-USSR"
and 23 as "
unknown citizenship"
.

More than six per cent of EU residents are foreigners

Foreign citizens account for 6.4 per cent of the total population of the 27 member states of the European Union, according to figures released on September 7 2010 by Eurostat, the bloc's statistics office.

As at January 1 2009, 31.9 million foreign citizens were living in the EU, of which 11.9 million were citizens of another EU member state.

The remaining were citizens of countries outside the EU27, in particular from other European countries (7.2 million), Africa (4.9 million), Asia (four million) and the American continent (3.3 million).

The proportion of foreign citizens varied between less than one per cent in Poland, Romania and Bulgaria and 44 per cent in Luxembourg.

In 2009, the largest numbers of foreign citizens were recorded in Germany (7.2 million), Spain (5.7 million), the United Kingdom (4.0 million in 2008), Italy (3.9 million) and France (3.7 million). More than 75 per cent of the foreign citizens in the EU27 lived in these member states.

In 2009, 37 per cent of the foreign citizens living in the EU27 were citizens of another EU state.

The largest groups were from Romania (two million or six per cent of the total number of foreign citizens in the EU27), Poland (1.5 million or five per cent), Italy (1.3 million or four per cent) and Portugal (one million or three per cent).

Among the citizens of countries outside the EU27, the largest groups were from Turkey (2.4 million or eight per cent of the total number of foreign citizens in the EU27), Morocco (1.8 million or six per cent) and Albania (a million or three per cent).

I was just reading something very similar here it is

Bulgaria in EU Bottom by Number of Foreign Citizens

On 1 January 2009, 31.9 million foreign citizens1 lived in the 27 EU Member States, of which 11.9 million were citizens of another EU Member State, according to data released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union Tuesday.

The remaining 20 million were citizens of countries outside the EU – 7.2 million from other European countries, 4.9 million from Africa, 4 million from Asia, and 3.3 million from the Americas.

In 2009, foreign citizens accounted for 6.4% of the total EU population, but the proportion of foreign citizens varied between less than 1% in Poland, Romania and Bulgaria and 44% in Luxembourg.

In 2009, 23 800 foreign citizens lived in Bulgaria, which is just 0.3% of the population. Of them 3 500 were from other EU Member States and the rest were from countries outside the EU.

The Eurostat report involves foreign citizens in the EU Member States, EFTA and Candidate countries.

In 2009, the largest numbers of foreign citizens were recorded in Germany (7.2 million), Spain (5.7 million), the United Kingdom (4.0 million in 2008), Italy (3.9 million) and France (3.7 million). More than 75% of the foreign citizens in the EU lived in these 5 Member States.

Among the EU Member States, the highest percentage of foreign citizens in the population was observed in Luxembourg (44% of the total population), followed by Latvia (18%), Cyprus and Estonia (both 16%), Spain (12%), Ireland (11%) and Austria (10%). The percentage of foreign citizens was 1% or less in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia.

In 2009, 37% of the foreign citizens living in the EU were citizens of another EU Member State. The largest groups were from Romania (2.0 million or 6% of the total number of foreign citizens in the EU), Poland (1.5 million or 5%), Italy (1.3 million or 4%) and Portugal (1.0 million or 3%). Among the citizens of countries outside the EU, the largest groups were from Turkey (2.4 million or 8% of the total number of foreign citizens in the EU), Morocco (1.8 million or 6%) and Albania (1.0 million or 3%).

On average in 2009, foreign citizens living in the EU were significantly younger than the population of nationals (median age 34.3 years compared with 41.2 years). This was true in all Member States except Estonia, Latvia and Poland. The largest differences were recorded in Italy (32.3 compared with 43.9), Finland (33.0 compared with 42.1) and Denmark (32.1 compared with 41.0).

Looking at the figures quoted for the foreigners living in Bulgaria ? I wonder if that included illegals which I would think there are more illegals than legals ::

cheekychops wrote:

Looking at the figures quoted for the foreigners living in Bulgaria ? I wonder if that included illegals which I would think there are more illegals than legals ::

A very poignant question observation cheeychops and I think with the illegal immigrants in Bg the figure would be much higher