News

On 7 and 8 May 2025, the National Statistical Institute hosted a regular Eurostat Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP) dialogue visit about the notification tables for the deficit/surplus and the debt of the “General Government” sector. The mission was led by Mr. Gabriele Semeraro, Director of Eurostat’s “Government Finance Statistics” Directorate and representatives of the statistical body of the European Commission and included an observer from the European Central Bank.

The President of the NSI Assoc. Prof. Atanas Atanasov, PhD participated in a meeting of the heads of the statistical authorities of the European Statistical System (ESS) member states, organized in the framework of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU. The aim of the meeting, that took place in Warsaw, was to discuss the implementation of the amendments and new additions to the main European regulation in the field of statistics – Regulation 223/2009.

The President of the National Statistical Council (NSC), Assoc. Prof. Ekaterina Tosheva, PhD participated in a seminar of the European Statistical Advisory Committee (ESAC), which took place in Athens in the period of 26-27 March 2025. The event was organized in close cooperation between the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) and Eurostat under the moto “Statistical priorities in Europe: the users’ perspective and mechanisms for consultations”.

The Executive Director of the Kosovo Agency of Statistics, Avni Kastrati, and the Population Registration Manager, Ylli Shala, were on a two-day visit to the NSI. The purpose of the visit was to discuss at a high level the possibilities for future cooperation in the field of statistics between the two institutions.

The Deputy-President of NSI, Svilen Kolev, PhD, participated as a moderator in the international scientific conference “New Techniques and Technologies for Statistics” (NTTS), which was held in the period of 11 – 13 March 2025 in Brussels, Belgium. The biennial scientific conference is organized by Eurostat. More than 500 participants from over 70 countries took part in this year’s edition. The event was also broadcast online.

The President of the National Statistical Institute, Assoc. Prof. Atanas Atanasov, PhD participated in the 56th Session of the UN Statistical Commission (UNSC), which took place in New York. Traditionally, the moto of the event was “Better data. Better lives” and was attended by the heads of the statistical offices of all 193 UN Member States. Maria Gochova, the Head of the International Relations and Projects Department of the NSI, also attended the meeting.

A dozen sympathizers of the “Revival” political party gathered today in front of the building of the National Statistical Institute in protest, under the pretext that inflation data is being falsified in connection with the country’s accession to the Eurozone.

The President of NSI Assoc. Prof. Atanas Atanasov, PhD and Maria Gochova – Head of the International Relations and Projects Department, took part in the 58th meeting of the European Statistical System Committee (ESSC), which was held in Luxemburg.

The theme of this year’s European Statistical Forum, which was attended by the President of NSI, Assoc. Prof. Atanas Atanasov, PhD is “Closing the data gaps on climate change”. The event took place in Brussels, Belgium on 16-17 January 2025 and was hosted by Eurostat and Directorate-General Statistics of the European Central Bank. In the opening session, the Commissioner for Economy and Productivity; Implementation and Simplification, Valdis Dombrovskis, whose area of responsibility also includes Eurostat, addressed the participants.

The National Statistical Institute published an electronic newsletter about its international cooperation activities in 2024. The newsletter is prepared by the “International Relations and Projects” Department and is available in Bulgarian and English language. The document contains information and photographic material about the participation of the NSI’s management in high-level forums and meetings within the European Statistical System, the UN Statistical System and other international organisations.