Bulgaria’s population decreased further last year, maintaining the rate of decline from 2012, official figures showed on Thursday.

The ageing of the population has also continued, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said.

At the end of last year, Bulgaria's population totalled 7.245 million, down 0.5% compared to a year earlier. Bulgarians accounted for 1.4% of the population of the European Union at the end of 2013.

Last year's drop in population numbers extended the decline from 7.364 million recorded in the 2011 census. In 2012, Bulgaria’s population decreased by 0.6% to 7.282 million.

According to a NSI statement, males accounted for 3.524 million, or 48.6% of the total population at the end of last year, while females were 3.720 million, or 51.4%.

Those aged 65 or more were 1.417 million, or 19.6% of the total population at the end of last year, compared with 1.395 million or 19.2% a year earlier. In 2012, the share of Bulgarians aged 65 and over increased by 0.4 percentage points compared to 2011 and by 2.0 percentage points compared to 2005.

Working-age population was 4.472 million at the end of last year, or 61.7% of the total population. Working-age males were 2.364 million and females were 2.141million.

Bulgaria’s population has steadily decreased since peaking at 8.865 million in 1980. The country has experienced a dramatic drop in population numbers since the 1990s when economic collapse prompted emigration on a large scale. Some 1.2 million people, mostly younger adults, had left the country for good by 2005, and the fertility rate is well below the replacement rate.

The average life expectancy for the period 2011-2013 was 74.5 years, the NSI said. Life expectancy for males was 71 years, while for females it was seven years longer.