site.bta199 Settlements in Bulgaria Had No Residents at All by End-2024

As of December 31, 2024, there were 5,256 settlements in Bulgaria, of which 257 towns and 4,999 villages, while the settlement formations were 166 (including eight of national and 158 of local importance), the National Statistical Institute reported on Thursday. As of December 31, 2024, the number of settlements without a single inhabitant in Bulgaria was 199, with the largest number of them located in the districts of Veliko Tarnovo (66), Gabrovo (64), Kyustendil (10), Kardzhali (9), and Sofia (9).

In 1,258 villages, or 23.9% of the settlements, the population numbered between one and 49.

As of the end of 2024, Bulgaria was divided into 28 administrative regions and 265 municipalities, within which there were 3,041 individual mayoralties.

The average area of a single administrative region in Bulgaria was 3,964 sq. km. The smallest region in terms of territory, Sofia City, was also the only one whose population exceeded 1,000,000 with 1,295,931 residents. Vidin's population was the smallest at 70,542 people.

At the end of 2024, 145 out of the total 265 municipalities in the country had a population of below 10,000 inhabitants. The share of their population was 12.3% of the total country’s population.