site.btaUPDATED Exhibition Marks Anniversary of Statistical Institute

An exhibition opened in Sofia Thursday to mark 146 years since the establishment of the National Statistical Institute (NSI). Titled Bulgarian Lands and Modern Statistics, it is on in the lobby of the Sts Cyril and Methodius National Library.

It features 13 bilingual panels in Bulgarian and English, presenting documentary artifacts and publications from the holdings of the National Library and the NSI that trace the development of statistical activity in the Bulgarian lands.

NSI Chair Dr. Atanas Atanasov pointed out that the exhibition is jointly organized by the NSI and the National Library and shows not only the historical development of Bulgarian statistics, but also its deep roots. He added that this heritage is a cause for pride and proof of continuity between the first statistical practices and modern statistics. He noted that nowadays, NSI have modern systems and digital tools that allow them to fulfil their mission in a modern way and in accordance with contemporary public needs – to provide impartial, objective, timely and reliable information on the social and economic development of the country.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vanya Avramova, Deputy Director of the National Library, said that the history of statistics is much more than a history of numbers. Avramova noted that the exhibition shows how the gradual accumulation of knowledge about the population, economy, land, trade, education and social processes began in the 1930s. The Deputy Director of the National Library emphasized that statistics did not arise in a vacuum and added that its roots can be found much earlier in registers, inventories and various forms of administrative documentation, which gradually created the basis for a more systematic observation of society. In addition, the Bulgarian Revivalists showed a keen interest in statistical information about the world and their own lands, realizing that knowledge about the population, production, trade and education is an important condition for social progress, Avramova also pointed out. Avramova said that since the Liberation, statistics have remained one of the most reliable tools for understanding social processes for making informed decisions and added that the exhibition is a testament to the importance of the documentary heritage stored in the National Library and the NSI.

Deputy Minister of Education and Science Prof. Dr. Eng. Senya Petrova Terzieva-Zhelyazkova said that statistics are much more than numbers and tables, adding that it is a tool through which we better understand society, monitor its development and make more informed decisions for the future. "This is especially important for decisions in the field of education, the results of which are often seen after years, and sometimes after decades", the Deputy Minister said. She also addressed the young people present at the opening of the exhibition, saying that the maxim that the truth is in the numbers is old and congratulated them on their participation in the Olympiad and their interest, the will to study and work in the field of exact sciences.

Dr. Nevena Gramatikova, archivist in the Oriental Collections Department at the National Library, provided more details about the exhibition, indicating that it was prepared as a joint product of the Oriental Collections Department and the NSI, and includes a total of 13 panels, of which the first 8 were prepared by the department. The first panel is the title panel and includes the photo of Mikhail Sarafov, who was the first head of the The Statistical Department, established after the Liberation, and images of various printed publications from before and after the Liberation of Bulgaria as illustrative materials. The second panel is introductory and briefly and generally presents the importance of statistics in the development of human society. The following third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth panels present Ottoman-Turkish documents, official Ottoman press and Bulgarian Renaissance publications, which contain a variety of statistical information and materials that speak of the importance that the Ottoman authorities and the Bulgarians of the Renaissance attached to statistics, said Gramatikova.

Among the official guests were Eurostat Director-General Mariana Kotzeva and Spain’s National Statistics Institute President Elena Manzanera Diaz.

An award ceremony for the winners of the European Statistics Olympiad 2026, held in Bulgaria for the first time, followed at the National Library. Bulgarian teams have taken part in the competition since its launch nine years ago and have often reached the final. 

Team StatRun from Cyprus won in the 14-16 age category, while Greece's Team Stars took first place among participants aged 16-18. Speaking at the ceremony, the NSI President highlighted the competition's growing popularity, noting that a record-setting number of 28,000 students from 22 countries, organized in 9,000 teams from over 2,000 educational institutions, took part this year. Eurostat Director-General Mariana Kotzeva stressed the importance of statistical literacy as a civic and life skill, saying the competition helps bring official European statistics into classrooms and encourages young people to engage with data. Bulgarian teams have participated since the competition's launch nine years ago and have frequently reached the finals, including a first-place finish in 2022.