Nearly 2,000 citizens of North Macedonia obtained Bulgarian citizenship in 2025, placing the country third globally in the number of grants, behind only Ukraine and Turkey.
According to North Macedonia media reports citing the annual report of the Bulgarian Citizenship Committee, some 1,975 citizens of North Macedonia received Bulgarian citizenship last year. The figure represents an increase from 2024, when 1,698 grants were recorded, though it remains below the more than 2,400 grants issued in 2023.
Over the past two decades, Bulgaria has reportedly issued more than 100,000 passports to North Macedonia citizens. Local media note that many seek Bulgarian citizenship primarily to facilitate work and travel within the EU, rather than out of a sense of Bulgarian national identity.
The trend has fueled debate over ethnic representation. According to North Macedonia’s 2021 census, Bulgarians constitute only 0.2% of the population, roughly 3,500 people. Officials in Sofia dispute this figure, citing the growing number of North Macedonians acquiring Bulgarian citizenship as evidence that the ethnic Bulgarian population may be significantly higher.