Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

NSI: 201 ghost villages in Bulgaria without a single inhabitant

Photo: .nsi.bg

Sofia is the largest municipality in Bulgaria by population, while Plovdiv has overtaken Varna to take second place. Burgas retains its position as the country's fourth largest city, while Stara Zagora now ranks fifth, displacing Ruse. 


These shifts in the ranking of the 20 largest municipalities by population have been recorded by the National Statistical Institute for the period from 2014 to 2023. In particular, Kardzhali has experienced remarkable growth, rising from 19th to 16th place.


As of 31 December 2023, there were 201 settlements without a single inhabitant, mainly concentrated in the central Balkan region, in the regions of Veliko Tarnovo (67), Gabrovo (67), Kyustendil (10) and Kardzhali (9). In addition, 1,453 villages, representing 27.6% of the settlements, have populations ranging from 1 to 49 persons. Notably, there are six cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants, accounting for 35.2% of the total population.




Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Anna Mutavska

Bulgaria, "Dali's Moustache" and Picasso

The connection between Bulgaria, "Dali's Moustache" and Picasso is a topic that could remain widely discussed in the next few years, and perhaps even decades. The reason for this is not related to new technologies and artificial intelligence, nor to..

published on 1/11/25 10:05 AM

Simitli hosts Bulgaria's biggest kukeri festival for the 21st year in a row

For the 21st consecutive year, Simitli is hosting one of the largest masquerade festivals in Bulgaria. Originally a local entertainment, "Simitli - The Ancient Land of Kukeri" has become one of the most important kukeri events in the country. Over the..

published on 1/11/25 7:35 AM
Sebastian Burduja

Balkan Developments

Romania becomes the largest natural gas producer in the EU Romania was the largest natural gas producer in the EU in 2024 and in 2027 the country will double its production thanks to the Neptun Deep project. This was..

published on 1/10/25 3:55 PM