Economic Aspects of Migration Processes in Bulgaria

Abstract

The paper studies the development of migration processes to and from Bulgaria and their impact on the country’s economic development. More specifically, it addresses the characteristics and trends of emigration from Bulgaria and those of immigration to the country. Its aim is to explore the complex internal structure and trends in individual migration flows in a very interesting historical period in which two strong external factors influence Bulgaria, the EU and the whole world in general – the global financial and economic crisis and the refugee crisis. In this environment, the processes are developing dynamically, changing the balances in the various migrant groups and increasing the unpredictability of migration. The paper firstly presents the European labour market and the free movement of people as external environment of migratory movements. It studies all structural features of outgoing migration, then the characteristics of incoming migration to the country. Lastly, it assesses the demographic and economic effects of immigration. Instead of a conclusion, the paper draws some recommendations on some effective policies to deal with the negative effects of emigration.

Keywords: migration, remittances, citizenship, refugees, free movement of people

JEL Classification: F22; J61, O15