Bulgaria’s population was diminishing, representatives of Full House association said.

According to the association the economically active population has been decreasing steadily since 1990. The percentage decreased from 21.6 per cent in 1990 to 15.1 in 2004, Novinar newspaper reported.

Bulgaria was expecting price increase after its EU entry, which could affect the decision of families to have children, head of the association Tsvetelina Brestnichka said.

A number of Bulgarians were going to look for work abroad and were not going to be willing to raise their children in Bulgaria, demographic analysis shows.

Representatives of Full House said that the state was ‘sanctioning’ families that had several children. Such families could not receive housing loans and their income was insufficient for the purchase of property, Novinar said.

The Labour and Social Policy Ministry said that facilitated housing loans could stimulate more families to have children. Such projects, however, have not been drafted yet, Novinar said.