# NUTS 3 areas of Bulgaria by population, 2025

All 28 values come from Eurostat, European Commission for 2025, so the places are comparable.

- Indicator id: `population`
- Unit: persons
- Definition: Resident population. Spain and the EU: 1 January, with Spanish figures from the official municipal register (Padrón). United States: Census Bureau population estimates for 1 July. Other countries and the World: World Bank mid-year estimates, which count all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.
- Source: Eurostat, European Commission, Population on 1 January by NUTS 3 region (demo_r_pjanaggr3) (https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/demo_r_pjanaggr3/default/table)
- Retrieved: 2026-10-08
- Citation: Eurostat. Population on 1 January by NUTS 3 region (demo_r_pjanaggr3). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/demo_r_pjanaggr3/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-08.
- Web page: https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/bulgaria-provinces
- CSV: https://invokely.ai/download/rankings/population/bulgaria-provinces.csv

| Rank | Place | persons |
|---:|---|---:|
| 1 | Sofia (stolitsa) | 1,295,931 |
| 2 | Plovdiv | 635,630 |
| 3 | Varna | 437,521 |
| 4 | Burgas | 388,919 |
| 5 | Stara Zagora | 288,736 |
| 6 | Blagoevgrad | 286,333 |
| 7 | Sofia | 224,701 |
| 8 | Pazardzhik | 223,494 |
| 9 | Pleven | 215,326 |
| 10 | Haskovo | 207,356 |
| 11 | Veliko Tarnovo | 200,413 |
| 12 | Ruse | 186,093 |
| 13 | Sliven | 169,299 |
| 14 | Kardzhali | 149,478 |
| 15 | Shumen | 149,279 |
| 16 | Vratsa | 146,002 |
| 17 | Dobrich | 145,207 |
| 18 | Montana | 112,737 |
| 19 | Lovech | 110,823 |
| 20 | Pernik | 109,886 |
| 21 | Kyustendil | 106,131 |
| 22 | Yambol | 105,429 |
| 23 | Razgrad | 99,459 |
| 24 | Targovishte | 94,735 |
| 25 | Gabrovo | 93,817 |
| 26 | Silistra | 93,549 |
| 27 | Smolyan | 90,534 |
| 28 | Vidin | 70,542 |