Economic
More than 70% of the GDP of Bulgaria‘s open, high-income range market economy comes from the private sector. By the 1980s, Bulgaria had evolved from a primarily rural, agricultural nation in 1948 to an industrial economy, with scientific and technical research at the top of its list of priorities for budgetary spending.
The planned system’s “shock therapy” after the 1990 loss of COMECON markets led to a sharp drop in industrial and agricultural output, which was followed by an economic collapse in 1997. A few years later, the economy rebounded significantly during a period of strong expansion, although the average monthly wage of 2,072 leva ($1,142) is still the lowest in the EU.
After achieving a balanced budget in 2003, the nation started to run a surplus the following year. In 2017, sales were $21.67 billion and expenses was $21.15 billion. The majority of government expenditures on institutions go toward security.
The ministries in charge of the environment, tourism, and energy receive the least amount of funds each year, while the ministries of defense, the interior, and justice receive the highest proportion. At 30% of GDP, taxes make up the majority of government revenue. With a flat 10% corporate income tax rate, Bulgaria has one of the lowest rates in the EU.
There are two levels to the tax system. While real estate, inheritance, and car taxes are imposed by local governments, value added tax, excise charges, and corporate and personal income tax are national taxes. The government’s debt decreased from 79.6% in 1998 to 14.1% in 2008 thanks to strong economic performance in the early 2000s. By 2022, it has risen to 22.6% of GDP, although it is still the second-lowest in the EU.
The most developed area is the Yugozapaden planning area, which has a 2018 PPP per capita of $29,816. Despite housing just 22% of the country’s population, the capital city and the neighboring Sofia Province account for 42% of the country’s GDP. In 2019, the cost of living was 52.8% and GDP per capita (in PPS) was 53 percent of the EU average (100%).
In 2016, the projected national PPP GDP was $143.1 billion, or $20,116 per person. The informal economy, which accounts for the biggest share of economic production in the EU, is the source of unlawful transactions included in economic growth figures. The lev, the country’s currency, is issued by the Bulgarian National Bank and is fixed at a rate of 1.95583 leva to the euro.
The effects of the 2007–2008 financial crisis led to a 3.6% GDP drop in 2009 and a rise in unemployment following many years of rapid development. Although 2010 saw a return to positive growth, intercompany debt topped $59 billion, which meant that 60% of all Bulgarian businesses were owed to one another.
It rose to $97 billion, or 227% of GDP, by 2012. The International Trade Union Confederation has called the government’s implementation of stringent austerity measures, which were encouraged by the IMF and the EU, “catastrophic” in terms of their social effects, including heightened income inequality and accelerated outward migration.
Society has suffered financial and welfare losses as a result of the diversion of public revenues to the families and relatives of incumbent party politicians. Bulgaria has the worst levels of corruption in the European Union and is ranked 71st in the Corruption Perceptions Index. This issue continues to cause significant public unhappiness. In addition to organized crime, corruption has caused foreign investment to leave the nation and its application to join the Schengen Area to be rejected.
According to reports, government officials bribe, violate government procurement laws, engage in influence trading, and embezzle with impunity. One crucial area of corruption risk is government procurement in particular. Public tenders are anticipated to cost 10 billion leva ($5.99 billion) of state budget and European cohesion funds annually; in 2017 alone, public contracts accounted for approximately 14 billion ($8.38 billion).
Due to many anomalies, procedural infractions, and specially designed award criteria, a significant portion of these contracts are given to a small number of politically linked businesses. Despite the European Commission’s constant criticism, EU institutions do not take action against Bulgaria since, in contrast to Poland or Hungary, it supports Brussels on a number of issues.
Structure and sectors
3.36 million individuals make up the labor force, with 6.8% working in agriculture, 26.6% in industry, and 66.6% in services. Among the main industrial operations are the extraction of metals and minerals, the manufacture of chemicals, the construction of machinery, steel, biotechnology, tobacco, food processing, and the refining of petroleum. About 5% of the nation’s GDP is generated by mining alone, which employs 24,000 people. A total of 120,000 people work in all mining-related enterprises. Bulgaria is the fifth-biggest coal producer in Europe.
Coal, iron, copper, and lead reserves in the area are essential for the energy and industrial industries. While Russia, Turkey, and China are by far Bulgaria’s biggest import partners, the country’s top export destinations outside the EU are Turkey, China, and Serbia. Food, petroleum products, chemicals, machinery, and manufactured items make up the majority of exports. OECD nations receive two-thirds of all food and agricultural exports.
Grain output has recently increased, and the 2016–2017 season had the most grain output in ten years, despite a 40% decline in cereal and vegetable productivity between 1990 and 2008[254]. They also grow rice, barley, oats, and maize. One important industrial crop is high-quality Oriental tobacco. Additionally, Bulgaria is the world’s largest producer of rose oil and lavender oil, both of which are used extensively in perfumes.
Tourism is a major driver of economic growth in the services sector. The most popular tourist destinations include Sofia, Plovdiv, Veliko Tarnovo, the seaside resorts of Albena, Golden Sands, and Sunny Beach, as well as the winter resorts of Bansko, Pamporovo, and Borovets. The majority of guests are German, Greek, Turkish, and Romanian. Additionally, the 100 Tourist Sites scheme promotes tourism.
Technology and Science
0.78% of GDP is spent on research and development, with the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) receiving the majority of governmental R&D funds. More than 73% of R&D spending and 42% of Bulgaria’s 22,000 researchers were employed by private companies in 2015. In the same year, Bulgaria came in at number 39 out of 50 nations in the Bloomberg Innovation Index, with education scoring the highest at number 24 and value-added manufacturing at number 48. In 2024, Bulgaria came in at number 38 on the Global Innovation Index. Many scientists and engineers have been driven to leave Bulgaria due to the government’s persistent underinvestment in research since 1990.
Research in physics, chemistry, and materials science is nonetheless robust despite the absence of funding. The St. Kliment Ohridski Base on Livingston Island in Western Antarctica is a hub for active Antarctic research. 40,000 to 51,000 software engineers are employed in the information and communication technologies (ICT) industry, which contributes 3% of economic production. During the Soviet period, Bulgaria was referred to as a “Communist Silicon Valley” because of its significant contribution to the development of COMECON computing technology.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Bulgaria was also indirectly a major source of computer viruses due to the communist government’s intensive efforts to educate computers and IT skills in schools. The nation will host one of the eight petascale EuroHPC supercomputers and runs the most potent supercomputer in Southeast Europe, Avitohol, making it a regional leader in high performance computing.
Bulgaria has contributed to space exploration in several ways. These consist of two cosmonauts since 1971, more than 200 payloads, 300 experiments, and two research satellites in Earth’s orbit. With its Svet greenhouses on the Mir space station, Bulgaria became the first nation to cultivate wheat in space.
It contributed to the creation of the Vega program and the Granat gamma-ray observatory, namely helping to predict the trajectories and guiding algorithms for the two Vega probes. A spectrometer that utilized the Phobos 2 mission to capture the first high-quality spectroscopic photos of the Martian moon Phobos is one of the Bulgarian equipment used in the exploration of Mars.
Liulin-ML dosimeters aboard the ExoMars TGO have mapped cosmic radiation on the way to and from the planet. The Chandrayaan-1 moon mission and the International Space Station have also been equipped with versions of these devices. The image payload aboard SpaceIL’s Beresheet, another moon mission, was also made in Bulgaria. SpaceX launched BulgariaSat-1, the country’s first geostationary communications satellite, in 2017.
Infrastructure
The majority of areas are connected by a central digital trunk line, and telephone services are generally accessible. Along with A1 and Telenor, Vivacom (BTC) is one of the three providers offering mobile services and supports over 90% of fixed lines. In 2020, 78.9% of homes and 69.2% of people aged 16 to 74 had access to the internet.
Despite lacking substantial fossil fuel resources, Bulgaria is a major European energy hub due to its advantageous geographic position and advanced energy industry. 48.9% of electricity is produced by thermal power plants, with nuclear power from the Kozloduy reactors coming in second (34.8%) and renewables in third (16.3%). Although equipment has been purchased for a second nuclear power plant at Belene, the project’s future is still up in the air. With 12,668 MW of installed capacity, Bulgaria is able to export electricity and surpass local demand.
Of the 19,512 kilometers (12,124 miles) that make up the national road network, 19,235 kilometers (11,952 miles) are paved. Although a growing percentage of freight is transported on roadways, railroads still play a significant role in the freight transportation industry. With fast trains offering direct routes to Kyiv, Minsk, Moscow, and Saint Petersburg, as well as rail connections to Romania, Turkey, Greece, and Serbia, Bulgaria has 6,238 kilometers (3,876 miles) of railway track. The main ports for marine commerce are Varna and Burgas, while Sofia serves as the nation’s air travel center.
Demographics
Bulgaria’s population is estimated by the government to be 6,447,710 in 2022, down from 6,519,789 in the country’s most recent official census in 2021. Seventy-two percent of the population lives in cities. With 1,241,675 residents as of 2019, Sofia is the most populous urban center. Plovdiv (346,893), Varna (336,505), Burgas (2024,434), and Ruse (142,902) are next in line. With 84.6% of the population, Bulgarians are the largest ethnic group. Approximately 40 smaller minorities make up 1.3%, Turkish and Roma minorities make up 8.4% and 4.4%, respectively, while 1.3% do not identify as belonging to any ethnic group.
The Roma minority, which can make up as much as 11% of the population, is typically underrepresented in census statistics. According to Ultima 2023, the population density is between 55 and 60 people per square kilometer, which is around half of the average for the EU.
There is a population issue in Bulgaria. Since 1989, when the post-Cold War economic collapse sparked a protracted emigration surge, its population growth has been negative. By 2005, between 937,000 and 1,200,000 individuals, primarily young adults, had departed the nation. Unmarried women give birth to the bulk of children.
At 1.59 children per woman in 2024, Bulgaria’s average total fertility rate (TFR) was marginally higher than 1.56 in 2018 and much higher than the record low of 1.1 in 1997, but remained below the replacement rate of 2.1 and far lower than the historical peak of 5.83 children per woman in 1905.
With an average age of 43, Bulgaria has one of the oldest populations in the world. In addition, 75.5% of families do not have children under the age of sixteen, and one individual makes about one-third of all homes. As a result, birth rates are among the lowest and mortality rates are among the highest in the world.
According to the 2018 Global Gender Gap Report, Bulgaria ranks 18th, indicating a good level of gender equality. Despite being granted the right to vote only in 1937, women now have equal political rights, high rates of employment, and constitutionally required equal pay. Bulgaria was named the top European country for women to work in by market research firm Reboot Online in 2021. At 44.6% of the workforce, Bulgaria has the second-highest percentage of women in the technology industry and the highest percentage of female ICT researchers in the EU. The Socialist period left behind high levels of female engagement.
Health
A deficient healthcare system, a growing population at danger of poverty, and an aging population all contribute to high mortality rates. Nearly a fifth of fatalities are preventable, with cardiovascular disease and cancer accounting for over 80% of all deaths. Despite the fact that healthcare in Bulgaria is supposedly universal, access to care is severely limited since out-of-pocket costs make up about half of total healthcare spending.
The emigration of physicians as a result of poor pay, regional hospitals that are understaffed and underequipped, supply shortages, and frequent modifications to the basic service package for insured individuals are other issues that are interfering with the delivery of treatment. Out of 56 nations, Bulgaria was placed worst in the 2018 Bloomberg Health Care Efficiency Index. The average life expectancy is 74.8 years, whereas the global average is 72.38 and the EU average is 80.99.
Education
Public spending for education are substantially below the European Union average as well. Although they were formerly high, educational standards have drastically decreased since the early 2000s. In terms of reading, Bulgarian pupils were among the best in the world in 2001, outperforming their German and Canadian counterparts; but, by 2006, their reading, math, and science scores had declined. According to research from the Programme for International Student Assessment, 47% of ninth-grade students were functionally illiterate in reading and the natural sciences by 2018.
There is no discernible gender difference in the high average basic literacy rate of 98.4%. The Ministry of Education and Science establishes standards for textbooks, manages the publication process, and provides a portion of the funding for public schools, colleges, and institutions. Public elementary and secondary schools provide free and required education. Grades one through eight comprise the primary stage of the procedure, whereas grades nine through twelve comprise the secondary level. A bachelor’s degree takes four years to complete, while a master’s degree takes one year. Sofia University holds the top spot among Bulgaria’s universities.
Language
The sole official language in Bulgaria is Bulgarian. Although it is a member of the Slavic language family, it differs from other Slavic languages in a number of grammatical ways. These include the use of a suffixed definite article, the lack of noun cases and infinitives, and a complex verbal morphology that also codes for differences in evidentiality.
Religion
Although Bulgaria is a secular state with constitutional guarantees of religious freedom, the country’s historic religion is Eastern Orthodox Christianity. About two-thirds of Bulgarians consider themselves to be Eastern Orthodox Christians.
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church was the first national church to obtain autocephalous status in 927 AD, and the first church outside of the Four Ancient Patriarchates of the Eastern Orthodox Church—at Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. There are more than 2,000 priests and 12 dioceses in the Bulgarian Patriarchate.
About 10% of Bulgaria’s population is Muslim, making it the country’s second-largest religious group. According to a 2011 study of 850 Muslims in Bulgaria, 50% of respondents described themselves as just religious and 30% as profoundly devout. According to the study, some religious teachings—like the Islamic funeral—have been absorbed into society for a long time and are commonly followed, while other important ones—like the Muslim prayer or refraining from drinking alcohol, eating pork, and living together—are less frequently obeyed.
Other significant faiths include the Armenian Apostolic Church, Roman Catholicism, Judaism, which have roots in Bulgaria that go back to the early Middle Ages, and many Protestant groups, which together account for around 2% of the country’s population. Over the past 20 years, the percentage of Bulgarians who are either irreligious or unaffiliated with any religion has been steadily rising, rising from 3.9% in 2001 to 9.3% in 2011 and 15.9% in 2021.
The following are the population’s religious denominations, as reported in the most recent census of 2021: Other religions (0.1%), Islam (10.8%), and Christianity (71.5%). 12.4% more did not reply or were not linked.
