03. April 2012. | 11:29
Source: BTA
Bulgaria is among EU countries with the fastest declining rural population (minus 13.2 per 1,000), while the largest proportion of the population lives in intermediate regions, showed Eurostat figures, released by the European Commission.

A year earlier, 17 per cent of Bulgaria’s population lived in urban regions, 45 per cent in intermediate regions and 38 per cent in rural areas. In 2010, Bulgaria’s urban population grew 7.7 per 1,000, while population in intermediate and rural areas declined by 8.9 and 13.2 per 1,000 respectively.

In early 2010, 41 per cent of the EU population lived in urban areas, 35 per cent in intermediate areas and 23 per cent in rural areas. Ireland, Slovakia and Estonia has the largest rural population, while Malta, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom

has the largest urban population. Sweden (56 per cent), Estonia (52 per cent) and Bulgaria (45 per cent) reported the largest population growth in intermediate regions.