Emigration Facts - The Statistics on Bulgaria

Emigration is now at record levels, even among our professional elite ? Guess which country in the world is suffering most from a brain drain ? Yes- the UK. 1.5 million of the 5.5 million Brits living abroad are highly skilled university graduates. They have left due to high house prices, taxes, climate and general quality of life. There are currently around 202,000 Brits leaving the UK every tax year. Over 40% of working and retired Brits are currently considering moving abroad. Latest estimates show that due to the credit crunch- and above factors- there might be 3 million Brits leaving the UK over the next 3 years which is a huge emigration increase. Emigration from Great Britain and Northern Ireland was generally up 20 per cent on last year. According to the immigration department in Bulgaria, inward migration is currently outstripping outward migration so it seems that living and working in Bulgaria is becoming more and more attractive.

The low property prices in Bulgaria have already attracted many investors to the country and foreign direct investment into Bulgaria has increased substantially as a result. But now an ever increasing number of citizens from wealthier countries such as the UK, Germany and Greece are moving permanently to Bulgaria or seeking to obtain dual residency in the nation.

The number of visitors Bulgaria receives annually during its winter ski season and its summer holiday season has also increased substantially and this has created vacancies in tourism related fields and created a plethora of business opportunities for both locally grown and foreign entrepreneurs.

The figures from the immigration department were discussed by the Bulgarian government recently. There was a 4% increase in the number of foreigners entering the country between 2004 and 2005 and twenty three million people crossed Bulgarian borders in the same period which constitutes almost a seven per cent gain on the previous year’s figures.

There was almost a fifty percent increase in the numbers of Britons seeking to obtain dual residency in Bulgaria last year compared to the year before and a strong increase in the numbers of German, Greek and Russian citizens moving to Bulgaria too. Meanwhile fewer than average Bulgarians are leaving Bulgaria to work abroad and this is seen as an indication that employment opportunities and conditions in Bulgaria are improving which bodes well for its future as a full member of the European Union.