SOFIA, April 12 (Xinhua) -- The Bulgarian population shrank by 0.7 percent year-on-year in 2017 to 7.05 million people, according to a report released by the country's National Statistical Institute (NSI) here on Thursday.

The number of deaths in 2017 was 109,791, increasing by 2.1 percent from 2016. Meanwhile, 63,955 children were born, 1.6 percent less compared to the previous year, the report said.

Comparing migration trends, 31,586 people emigrated from Bulgaria in 2017, compared with the 25,597 who immigrated, the report said.

Statistics also revealed that the Bulgarian population continued to age, and by the end of 2017 the number of people aged 65 and over increased by 0.3 percent to 1.48 million people, or 21 percent of the country's population.

The aging population of women was larger than that of men, with the share of women aged 65 and over reaching 24.4 percent against 17.4 percent of men, the NSI said, which was greatly due to the higher mortality rate for men.

At the same time, the population of those of working age decreased by 1.3 percent to 4.25 million.