During the ten-year period 2013-2023 the total number of students studying at Bulgarian Sunday schools abroad has according to the official data increased more than three times (from 8 045 to 25 708).

The Sunday schools are mostly concentrated in Europe.

The largest number of Bulgarian children study at the Sunday schools in the United Kingdom, Spain, Ukraine, Germany and Greece.

The biggest increase in the number of students during the past decade has also been registered in some of these countries - United Kingdom, Ukraine, Germany – and Italy adds to them. Together with Norway, the Netherlands, North Macedonia and France, Italy is among the countries with a considerable growth from low basis, that is, has the largest number of newly joined students.

Outside Europe during the same period, we observe a considerable increase in the number of students at Sunday schools in USA where the number of schools is also quite big, in Turkey and Brazil where the increase is from 0, in Canada and in the United Emirates.

Although the countries where the largest Bulgarian communities abroad have formed and the number of students in Bulgarian Sunday schools coincide to a great extent, there is no full concurrence between them. According to data of the State Agency for the Bulgarians Abroad from July 2024, the largest Bulgarian communities in Europe are in the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Austria, Greece and the Netherlands and outside Europe in USA, Canada, Israel. Australia and South Africa.

Thus, a community of 35 000 in Austria only has 831 in a Bulgarian Sunday school, a community of 55 000 in Israel has 28, a community of 20 000 in South Africa has 35, a community of 20 000 in Australia has 72, and in Turkey where according to data of the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2019 the community of Bulgarians amounts to 350 000, the number of students is 116.

An analysis of the Association of Bulgarian Schools Abroad from July 2024 states that over 50% of the students enrolled in a preparatory group or in first grade drop out by the end of grade 5 and under 1% of the students who have studied in a Sunday school for at least one school year continue their tertiary education in Bulgaria. 

You may see a graph by country on mouseover.

Press "Play" to view changes in the period 2013/14 - 2019/20.