Editing Demographics of Bulgaria (section)

===Historical birth and fertility rates===
The first reliable data about fertility and natural increase rates in the Bulgarian lands date back to the mid-1800s.

According to Turkish statistician [[Kemal Karpat]], Non-Muslims, Bulgarians included, in the [[Ottoman Empire]] received a remarkable boost in fertility in the early 1830s. Their average growth rate climbed up to 2% per year, compared to zero among Muslims, who suffered from demographic stagnation.<ref name=KKarpat1>{{cite book|last1=Karpat |first1=K.H. |title=Ottoman population, 1830-1914: demographic and social characteristics |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |location=Madison, Wis |year=1985 | url=https://www.academia.edu/27913581 | pages=70|quote=The assessment of fertility rates is an absolute necessity for the understanding of the growth rate of the Ottoman population. It is generally assumed that during the first thirtv years of the nineteenth century the Ottoman population decreased, beginning to increase again after 1850. This assumption is one-sided and only partly true, for it ignores the differences in growth rates between Muslim and non-Muslim groups. The non-Muslim population actually grew at a fairly fast rate after the 1830s—probably 2 percent annually; the Muslim population declined or remained the same in number. There are indications, however, that fertility rates among the Muslims began to increase after 1850. The causes of the disproportionate fertility rates among the two groups are to be found in the special economic and social conditions which favored non-Muslims and penalized the Muslims, especially Turks. Male Turks spent their peak reproductive years in military service and were unable to marry and settle down to take advantage of economic opportunities. Then, when in the nineteenth century the Ottoman state was exposed to the influence of the European capitalist economy and to intensified internal and international trade, several non-Muslim groups became the early recipients of the economic benefits—and the promoters as well—of the new economic system. }}</ref>

The same trend continued well after Bulgaria's Liberation from Ottoman rule in 1878.<ref name="Godishnik">{{cite journal|journal=Статистически годишник на Българското Царство|publisher=National Statistical Institute|year=1915|language=bg, fr|location=Sofia|title=Статистически годишник на Българското Царство за 1912 г.|trans-title=Statistical Almanac of the Tsardom of Bulgaria for 1912|pages=75–77, 105|url=https://www.nsi.bg/statlib/bg/lister.php?iid=DO-010000465&page=1}}</ref> Until the early 1890s, Muslim birth rates in Bulgaria hesitated in the low 20s, dwarfed by rates of + 40‰ among Orthodox Christians, while natural increase rates hovered around zero.<ref name="Godishnik"/> The ongoing Muslim demographic crisis and the heavy migration to Turkey were the two primary reasons for the rapid decrease in Bulgaria's Muslim and Turkish population between 1880 and 1910, from 28.7% in 1880 to 13.8% in 1910 for Muslims and from 26.2% to 10.7% for Turks.

Muslim birth and natural increase rates started climbing slowly from the late 1890s but only surpassed Orthodox ones in 1924. Nevertheless, it was not the Eastern Orthodox but rather Bulgaria's [[Catholic Church in Bulgaria|Roman Catholics]] that had the highest birth rate during the period, though usually offset by very high mortality rates.

<div style="text-align: center;">'''Average Number of Births & Deaths, Average Birth Rate, Death Rate and Rate of Natural Increase in the Principality of Bulgaria by Period and Confession'''<ref name="Godishnik"/><ref name="Godishnik1930">{{cite journal|journal=Статистически годишник на Българското Царство|publisher=National Statistical Institute|year=1930|language=bg, fr|location=Sofia|title=Статистически годишник на Българското Царство за 1929–1930 г.|trans-title=Statistical Almanac of the Tsardom of Bulgaria for 1929–1930|pages=61, 89|url=https://www.nsi.bg/statlib/bg/lister.php?iid=DO-010000839&page=1}}</ref><ref name="Godishnik1934">{{cite journal|journal=Статистически годишник на Българското Царство|publisher=National Statistical Institute|year=1930|language=bg, fr|location=Sofia|title=Статистически годишник на Българското Царство за 1934 г.|trans-title=Statistical Almanac of the Tsardom of Bulgaria for 1934|pages=53, 64|url=https://www.nsi.bg/statlib/bg/lister.php?iid=DO-010001024&page=1}}</ref></div>
<div style=display:inline-table>
{| class="wikitable sortable static-row-numbers"
|+1891–1894 Averages by Confession
|-
! style="width:110pt;" rowspan="2" | Confession  || style="width:50pt;" |<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Live births per year</span> || style="width:25pt;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Birth rate</span> ||style="width:50pt;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Deaths per year</span> || style="width:25pt;" | <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Death rate</span> ||style="width:50pt;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Rate of natural increase</span>
|- class="static-row-header"
! style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Number</span> !! style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">‰</span> !! style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Number</span> !!style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">‰</span> !! style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">‰</span>
|-
| [[Bulgarian Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">104,749</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">40.1</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">78,165</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">30.0</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''10.1'''</span>
|-
| [[Islam in Bulgaria|Muslims]]|| style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">14,972</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">23.3</span>|| style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">13,924</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">21.8</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''1.5'''</span>
|-
| [[Judaism in Bulgaria|Jews]] || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">1,038</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">36.6</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">684</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">24.1</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''{{font color|royalblue|12.5}}'''</span>
|-
|[[Roman Catholic Church in Bulgaria|Roman Catholics]] ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">911</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''{{font color|royalblue|40.3}}'''</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">901</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''{{font color|orangered|39.8}}'''</span>|| style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''{{font color|orangered|0.5}}'''</span>
|-
|[[Armenian Apostolic Church|Armenian Gregorians]] ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">210</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">31.6</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">173</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">26.2</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''5.4'''</span>
|-
|[[Protestantism in Bulgaria|Protestants]] ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">49</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''{{font color|orangered|20.5}}'''</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">35</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''{{font color|royalblue|14.7}}'''</span>|| style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''5.8'''</span>
|-
! style="text-align: left;"|TOTAL ||style="text-align: right;"| 121,929  ||style="text-align: right;"| 36.7 ||style="text-align: right;"| 93,883 || style="text-align: right;"|28.4 || style="text-align: right;"|8.3
|-
|}</div>
<div style=display:inline-table>
{| class="wikitable sortable static-row-numbers"
|+1899–1902 Averages by Confession
|-
! style="width:50pt;" |<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;"> Live births per year </span> || style="width:27pt;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Birth rate</span> ||style="width:50pt;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Deaths per year</span> || style="width:27pt;" | <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Death rate</span> ||style="width:50pt;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Rate of natural increase</span>
|- class="static-row-header"
! style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Number</span> !! style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">‰</span> !! style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Number</span> !!style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">‰</span> !! style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">‰</span>
|-
| style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">125,151</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''{{font color|royalblue|41.4}}'''</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">70,608</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">23.4</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''18.0'''</span>
|-
| style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">20,071</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">31.2</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">15,786</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">24.5</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''6.7'''</span>
|-
| style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">1,295</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">38.5</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">551</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">16.4</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;"> {{font color|royalblue|'''22.1'''}}</span>
|-
|style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">1,163</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">40.7</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">818</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">''' {{font color|orangered|28.6}}'''</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''12.1'''</span>
|-
|style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">383</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">27.7</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">298</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">21.6</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;"> {{font color|orangered|'''6.1'''}}</span>
|-
| style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">119</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''{{font color|orangered|26.3}}'''</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">70</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''{{font color|royalblue|15.5}}'''</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''10.8'''</span>
|-
! style="text-align: right;"|148,182 ||style="text-align: right;"| 39.6  ||style="text-align: right;"| 88,081 || style="text-align: right;"| 23.5 || style="text-align: right;"|16.1
|-
|}</div>
<div style=display:inline-table>
{| class="wikitable sortable static-row-numbers"
|+1904–1907 Averages by Confession
|-
! style="width:50pt;" |<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;"> Live births per year </span> || style="width:25pt;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Birth rate</span> ||style="width:50pt;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Deaths per year</span> || style="width:25pt;" | <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Death rate</span> ||style="width:50pt;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Rate of natural increase</span>
|- class="static-row-header"
! style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Number</span> !! style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">‰</span> !! style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Number</span> !!style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">‰</span> !! style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">‰</span>
|-
| style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">148,076</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">44.2</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">72,816</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">21.8</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">{{font color|royalblue|'''22.4'''}}</span>
|-
| style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">23,122</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">38.3</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">14,041</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">23.3</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''15.0''' </span>
|-
|style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">1,288</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">34.2</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">518</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">13.7</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''20.5'''</span>
|-
|style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">1,321</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''{{font color|royalblue|44.5}}'''</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">785</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''{{font color|orangered|26.4}}'''</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''18.1'''</span>
|-
|style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">358</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''{{font color|orangered|28.3}}'''</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">279</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">22.1</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">{{font color|orangered|'''6.2'''}}</span>
|-
|style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">182</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">32.2</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">85</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''{{font color|royalblue|15.1}}'''</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''17.1'''</span>
|-
! style="text-align: right;"|174,347 ||style="text-align: right;"| 43.2 ||style="text-align: right;"| 88,524 || style="text-align: right;"| 21.9 || style="text-align: right;"|21.3
|-
|}</div>

<div style=display:inline-table>
{| class="wikitable sortable static-row-numbers"
|+1909–1912 Averages by Confession
|-
! style="width:110pt;" rowspan="2" | Confession  || style="width:50pt;" |<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Live births per year</span> || style="width:25pt;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Birth rate</span> ||style="width:50pt;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Deaths per year</span> || style="width:25pt;" | <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Death rate</span> ||style="width:50pt;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Rate of natural increase</span>
|- class="static-row-header"
! style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Number</span> !! style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">‰</span> !! style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Number</span> !!style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">‰</span> !! style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">‰</span>
|-
| [[Bulgarian Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">151,155</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">41.5</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">82,006</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">23.0</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''{{font color|royalblue|18.5}}'''</span>
|-
| [[Islam in Bulgaria|Muslims]]|| style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">23,896</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">39.7</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">15,892</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">26.4</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''13.3'''</span>
|-
| [[Judaism in Bulgaria|Jews]] || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">1,234</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">30.8</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">532</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''{{font color|royalblue|13.3}}'''</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''17.5'''</span>
|-
|[[Roman Catholic Church in Bulgaria|Roman Catholics]] ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">1,361</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''{{font color|royalblue|42.4}}'''</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">857</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''{{font color|orangered|26.7}}'''</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''15.7'''</span>
|-
|[[Armenian Apostolic Church|Armenian Gregorians]] ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">298</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">24.1</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">241</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">19.6</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''{{font color|orangered|4.5}}'''</span>
|-
|[[Protestantism in Bulgaria|Protestants]] ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">194</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''{{font color|orangered|30.1}}'''</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">108</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">17.3</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''12.8'''</span>
|-
! style="text-align: left;"|TOTAL ||style="text-align: right;"| 178,138  ||style="text-align: right;"| 41.1 ||style="text-align: right;"| 99,636 || style="text-align: right;"|23.0 || style="text-align: right;"|18.1
|-
|}</div>
<div style=display:inline-table>
{| class="wikitable sortable static-row-numbers"
|+1919–1922 Averages by Confession
|-
! style="width:50pt;" |<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;"> Live births per year </span> || style="width:25pt;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Birth rate</span> ||style="width:50pt;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Deaths per year</span> || style="width:25pt;" | <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Death rate</span> ||style="width:50pt;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Rate of natural increase</span>
|- class="static-row-header"
! style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Number</span> !! style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">‰</span> !! style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Number</span> !!style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">‰</span> !! style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">‰</span>
|-
| style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">159,843</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">39.3</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">85,295</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">21.0</span> || style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''18.3'''</span>
|-
| style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">24,346</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">35.2</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">16,079</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">23.3</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''11.9'''</span>
|-
| style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">1,158</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''{{font color|orangered|26.7}}'''</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">536</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''{{font color|royalblue|12.4}}'''</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;"> '''14.3'''</span>
|-
|style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">1,372</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''{{font color|royalblue|40.2}}'''</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">830</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''{{font color|orangered|24.4}}'''</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''15.8'''</span>
|-
|style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">298</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">27.5</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">251</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">23.1</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">{{font color|orangered|'''4.4'''}}</span>
|-
| style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">198</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">35.3</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">92</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">16.4</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">{{font color|royalblue|'''18.9'''}}</span>
|-
! style="text-align: right;"|187,233 ||style="text-align: right;"| 38.8  ||style="text-align: right;"| 103,083 || style="text-align: right;"| 21.3 || style="text-align: right;"|17.5
|-
|}</div>
<div style=display:inline-table>
{| class="wikitable sortable static-row-numbers"
|+1925–1928 Averages by Confession
|-
! style="width:50pt;" |<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;"> Live births per year </span> || style="width:25pt;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Birth rate</span> ||style="width:50pt;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Deaths per year</span> || style="width:25pt;" | <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Death rate</span> ||style="width:50pt;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Rate of natural increase</span>
|- class="static-row-header"
! style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Number</span> !! style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">‰</span> !! style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">Number</span> !!style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">‰</span> !! style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">‰</span>
|-
| style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">156,839</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">34.3</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">82,220</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">18.0</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''16.3'''</span>
|-
| style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">31,575</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''{{font color|royalblue|40.0}}'''</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">17,458</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''{{font color|orangered|22.1}}'''</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">{{font color|royalblue|'''17.9'''}}</span>
|-
|style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">1,032</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''{{font color|orangered|22.2}}'''</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">515</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''{{font color|royalblue|11.1}}'''</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''11.1'''</span>
|-
|style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">1,566</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">38.8</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">878</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">21.7</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''17.1'''</span>
|-
|style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">646</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">25.5</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">434</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">17.1</span> ||style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">{{font color|orangered|'''8.4'''}}</span>
|-
|style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">221</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">32.8</span> ||style="text-align: right;"| <span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">108</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">16.0</span> || style="text-align: right;"|<span style="font-size:90%; line-height: 1.01em;">'''16.8'''</span>
|-
! style="text-align: right;"|191,890 ||style="text-align: right;"| 35.0 ||style="text-align: right;"| 101,613 || style="text-align: right;"| 18.5 || style="text-align: right;"|16.5
|-
|}</div>

In the 1930s and 1940s, ethnic Bulgarians completed stage 2 of their [[demographic transition]], and crude birth rate among them fell to a mere 23.3‰ by 1946, or twice as low as the birth rate of Bulgaria's two largest minorities, [[Turks in Bulgaria|Turks]] (40.9‰) and [[Romani people in Bulgaria|Roma]] (47.2‰).<ref name=Ilieva>{{cite journal|journal=Проблеми на географията|volume=1-2|year=2011|location=Sofia|publisher=Bulgarian Academy of Sciences|last=Ilieva|first=Nadezhda|title=Промени в локализацията на ромската етническа група в България|trans-title=Problems in the Localisation of Romani in Bulgaria|pages=3|url=http://geoproblems.eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/2011_12/4_ilieva.pdf }}</ref> At the same time, due to higher mortality, the rate of natural increase among Bulgarian Turks was almost identical to that among ethnic Bulgarians (12.1‰ vs. 11.1‰), while the rate among the Romani was twice as high (23.1‰).<ref name=Ilieva/>