and over: 19.54% (male 557,237 /female 821,957) (2018 est.) Median age total: 43.7 years. Country comparison to the world: 20 male: 41.9 years female: 45.6 years (2020 est.) total: 43 years. Country comparison to the world: 22nd male: 41.2 years female: 44.9 years (2018 est.) Birth rate 8.15 births/1,000 population (2021 est.) Country comparison to the world: 218th 8.5 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 215th Death rate 14.52 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.) Country comparison to the world: 3th 14.5 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 4th Total fertility rate 1.49 children born/woman (2021 est.) Country comparison to the world:204th 1.47 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 201st Net migration rate -0.29 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.) Country compy to the world:115 Population growth rate -0.67% (2021 est.) Country comparison to the world: 229th Mother's mean age at first birth 27.1 years (2017 est.) Dependency ratios total dependency ratio: 56.6 (2020 est.) youth dependency ratio: 23 (2020 est.) elderly dependency ratio: 33.6 (2020 est.) potential support ratio: 3 (2020 est.) Urbanization urban population: 75.7% of total population (2020) .rate of urbanization: -0.22% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.) potential support ratio: 3.3 (2015 est.) Life expectancy at birth total population: 75.3 years. Country comparison to the world: 122th male: 72.08 years female: 78.73 years (2021 est.) Literacy definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2015 est.) total population: 98.4% male: 98.7% female: 98.1% (2015 est.) School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education) total: 14 years male: 14 years female: 14 years (2016) Unemployment, youth ages 15–24 total: 12.7%. Country comparison to the world: 108th male: 13.2% female: 13.9% (2018 est.) Sex ratio Of the total 7,364,570 as of 2011, 3,586,571 are males and 3,777,999 are females, or there are 1,053 women for every 1,000 men. Demographic policies The progressive decrease of the Bulgarian population is hindering economic growth and welfare improvement, and the management measures taken to mitigate the negative consequences do not address the essence of the problem. The Government Program for the period 2017 - 2021 is the first one that aims at overturning the trend. The program also identifies the priority means for achieving this goal: measures to increase the birth rate, reduce youth emigration, and build up regulatory and institutional capacity to implement a modern immigration policy tailored to the needs of the Bulgarian business.L. Ivanov.