Bulgaria: Increased granting of citizenship in 2023

10 205 people acquired Bulgarian citizenship in 2023, reveals a new report published by the president of Bulgaria’s Commission on Bulgarian Citizenship. This marks an increase of more than 35% compared with 2022, when the total number of citizenships granted was 7 410.

The main country of origin for citizenship applicants remains the Republic of North Macedonia (2 422 citizens), followed by Moldova (1 930), Albania (1 430), Ukraine (1 329) and Turkey (1 239). In most of these countries there has historically been a Bulgarian minority which can benefit from a simplified procedure for acquiring citizenship.

Bulgarian citizenship was acquired in 2023 on the following grounds:

• Bulgarian origin (4 897)
• A parent who is a Bulgarian citizen or full adoption (4 513)
• General naturalisation (773)
• Special merits (22)

In addition, 2 000 people restored their Bulgarian citizenship in 2023.