NationPulse

🇧🇬 Bulgaria in official data

How Bulgaria is doing across 22 areas of society, from the economy to health, housing and education: the latest official figures from Eurostat, the OECD and national statistics offices, as shown on NationPulse.

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Where it stands in the EU

• Underemployed part-time workers: Bulgaria has the lowest value in the EU (0.4 %, 2025).
• Low-achieving 15-year-olds in mathematics (PISA): Bulgaria has the highest value in the EU (57.2 %, 2025).
• Non-fatal accidents at work: Bulgaria has the 2nd lowest value in the EU (87 /100k, 2024).
• SMEs with at least basic digital intensity: Bulgaria has the lowest value in the EU (49.9 %, 2024).
• Real household disposable income per person: Bulgaria has the 3rd highest value in the EU (155.3 2008=100, 2022).
• People taking part in active citizenship: Bulgaria has the lowest value in the EU (1.9 %, 2022).
• Temporary employees: Bulgaria has the 3rd lowest value in the EU (2.5 %, 2025).
• Real GDP per person: Bulgaria has the lowest value in the EU (11,470 €, 2025).
• Life expectancy at birth: Bulgaria has the lowest value in the EU (75.8 years, 2024).
• Premature deaths from fine particulate matter (PM2.5): Bulgaria has the highest value in the EU (104 /100k, 2023).
• Average salary adjusted for prices: Bulgaria has the lowest value in the EU (15,387 €/yr, 2024).
• At risk of poverty or social exclusion: Bulgaria has the highest value in the EU (29.0 %, 2025).
• In-work at-risk-of-poverty rate: Bulgaria has the highest value in the EU (11.8 %, 2025).
• Low-achieving 15-year-olds in reading (PISA): Bulgaria has the 2nd highest value in the EU (58.4 %, 2025).
• Low-achieving 15-year-olds in science (PISA): Bulgaria has the 2nd highest value in the EU (47.5 %, 2025).
• Adults learning in the last 12 months: Bulgaria has the 2nd lowest value in the EU (20.6 %, 2022).
• Innovative enterprises: Bulgaria has the 2nd lowest value in the EU (26.1 %, 2022).
• People with at least basic digital skills: Bulgaria has the 2nd lowest value in the EU (38.3 %, 2025).
• Perceived independence of the justice system: Bulgaria has the 2nd lowest value in the EU (27 %, 2025).
• People using online public services: Bulgaria has the 2nd lowest value in the EU (36.0 %, 2025).
• Actual individual consumption per capita: Bulgaria has the 2nd lowest value in the EU (74 EU = 100, 2024).
• Out-of-pocket spending on healthcare: Bulgaria has the 2nd highest value in the EU (34.1 %, 2024).
• Unable to afford a proper meal every second day: Bulgaria has the 2nd highest value in the EU (15.8 %, 2025).
• People making ends meet with great difficulty: Bulgaria has the 2nd highest value in the EU (11.0 %, 2025).
• Young people not in employment, education or training (NEET): Bulgaria has the 2nd highest value in the EU (13.8 %, 2025).
• Fatal accidents at work: Bulgaria has the 2nd highest value in the EU (3.08 /100k, 2024).
• Road traffic deaths: Bulgaria has the 2nd highest value in the EU (7.4 /100k, 2024).
• Public transport share of passenger travel: Bulgaria has the 2nd lowest value in the EU (11.2 %, 2024).
• Enterprises using artificial intelligence: Bulgaria has the 3rd lowest value in the EU (8.6 %, 2025).
• Overcrowding rate: Bulgaria has the 3rd highest value in the EU (32.5 %, 2025).
• Unable to keep the home adequately warm: Bulgaria has the 3rd highest value in the EU (16.1 %, 2025).
• Arrears on utility bills: Bulgaria has the 3rd highest value in the EU (17.2 %, 2025).
• Rail share of passenger travel: Bulgaria has the 3rd lowest value in the EU (2.2 %, 2024).
• People reporting crime, violence or vandalism in their area: Bulgaria has the 3rd highest value in the EU (15.6 %, 2023).

Brain: Education, research & innovation

Eyes: Information & Digital Access

Ears: Civic Participation

Jaw: Justice & Institutions

Neck: Government & Public Administration

Heart: Economy & Financial Stability

Left lung: Healthcare

Right lung: Environment & Climate

Stomach: Cost of Living

Liver: Poverty & Social Welfare

Left kidney: Housing

Right kidney: Essential Utilities

Left arm: Employment

Right arm: Job Quality

Left hand: Youth Opportunities

Right hand: Workplace Safety

Left leg: Roads & Transport

Right leg: Public Transport & Mobility

Left foot: Regional Accessibility

Right foot: Digital Infrastructure

Skin and body outline: Public Safety & Social Inclusion

Researched context (not official statistics)

For conditions with no official series, published figures from other credible sources, checked against the linked pages:

• Educational inequality by social background: In PISA 2022, social background mattered more in Bulgaria than on average in the OECD: advantaged students outscored disadvantaged ones by 108 points in maths, against 93.
• Scientific research outcomes: Research in Bulgaria is cited less often than in any other EU country (27th in the EU), and less of it is co-written with foreign researchers than almost anywhere else in the EU (26th).
• Public voice: CIVICUS, a global civil-society alliance, rates civic space in Bulgaria as "narrowed": the second-best of its five levels.
• Media freedom: Reporters Without Borders ranks Bulgaria 71st of 180 countries for press freedom in 2026, down from 70th in 2025.
• Access to justice: The World Justice Project places Bulgaria 61st of 143 countries for the rule of law, and 68th for civil justice.
• Court efficiency: Courts in Bulgaria took an estimated 189 days to resolve civil and commercial disputes at first instance in 2024, against 124 in the Netherlands, 423 in Spain and 584 in Italy.
• Public service effectiveness: The World Bank scores the effectiveness of Bulgaria’s government at 54.9 out of 100 in 2025, roughly unchanged since 2023.
• Transport infrastructure: Business executives placed Bulgaria’s roads 102nd of 141 countries in 2019; the World Bank gives its trade and transport infrastructure 3.1 out of 5.
• Commuting: In 2019 a one-way commute in Bulgaria took 26 minutes on average, close to the EU average of 25.
• Access to services: Most people in Bulgaria can reach work or study without a car: 90.8% can get there within an hour by public transport, cycling or walking, well above the EU average of 71.1%.

Data retrieved 2026-10-21. Every value links to its official source.

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