Plovdiv is the second in demographic significance labor market in Bulgaria. The population living in the city of Plovdiv and in the closest settlements (up to 30 min by car in one direction) is over half a million people. Another 763,000 people live in commutable distance to the city center (up to 1 hour by car in one direction). That makes the total population in wider Plovdiv region 1.28 million. The city is accessible for less than 1.5 hours by approximately 3 million people that includes also the population of the capital city Sofia. Population living in Plovdiv city in working age (women aged 16-59, men aged 16-62) totals 220,000. The people aged below working age (according to the social laws under 16) in Plovdiv are some 50,000. There are some 70,000 passed working age.
Population aged 20-34 in wider Plovdiv region
A particularly interesting group is the population aged 20-34. Those are young people who have just finished high school, college or university and have none or some experience in IT & BPO and are very suitable for the sector’s positions. According to data from the official National Statistics Institute (NSI), that age group totals about 90,000 in Plovdiv municipality, about 116,000 in wider Plovdiv (city plus suburbs), and some 261,000 in Plovdiv region (including towns in commutable distance from downtown Plovdiv and major industrial and business zones).
