Bulgarian Community in Birmingham

Where they come from

Bulgaria lies in south-east Europe, on the Black Sea, with the Balkan Mountains running across it. It gave the world the Cyrillic alphabet, developed by scholars in the First Bulgarian Empire. Bulgarians in Birmingham include workers, students, professionals and families who have arrived since 2007.

The community in numbers

At the 2021 Census, out of a city population of 1,144,919, 1,037 Birmingham residents described their ethnic group as Bulgarian; and 1,164 residents gave Bulgarian as their main language. Main language figures leave out the many bilingual residents who use English day to day, so the number who speak the language at home is higher still.

Working for Birmingham

Bulgarian residents work in construction, logistics, hospitality, cleaning, care and manufacturing, and many run their own businesses. Bulgarian doctors, engineers, IT specialists and students contribute to the city's hospitals, universities and technology firms.

The city's future rests on the same things as its past: skills, enterprise and people willing to put in the hours. Whether in a hospital, a classroom, a lecture theatre, a van full of tools or a shop on a busy high street, Bulgarian residents are helping to build that future, and to make Birmingham a stronger, fairer and more welcoming city.

Culture and community life

Baba Marta Day on 1 March, when people give each other red and white martenitsa charms, is a joyful tradition. Banitsa, a cheese pastry, and shopska salad are favourites, and Bulgarian folk music, with its distinctive rhythms and voices, is admired around the world. Easter is celebrated in the Orthodox tradition.

In a city where scores of languages are spoken, the Bulgarian community adds another voice to the conversation. Its members, old and new, are helping to make Birmingham the confident, outward-looking city it wants to be.