Bulgaria: Anti-Corruption Win At Polls
Yet, achieving quick results in battling graft and bringing prosperity to the European bloc’s poorest nation is unlikely.
Bulgaria GDP and Economic Data
Includes Bulgaria real Gross Domestic Product growth rate, with latest forecasts and historical data, GDP per capita, GDP composition and breakdown by sector.
Browse additional economic indicators and data sets, selected by Global Finance editors, to learn more about Bulgaria economic outlook, debt to GDP ratio, international trade performance and population trends. Rankings of Bulgaria best banks and safest banks are also available.
Advertisement
Source
International Reserves
USD 39.19 billion (2021)
International Monetary Fund (IMF), data retrieved January 2022
Gross Domestic Product - GDP
USD 77.91 billion (2021 estimate)
IMF - World Economic Outlook, October 2021
Source
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity)
USD 177.70 billion (2021 estimate)
IMF - World Economic Outlook, October 2021
Source
Real GDP growth
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020* | 2021* |
| 3.5% | 3.1% | 3.7% | –4.2% | 4.5% |
*Estimate
Source
Advertisement
Source
GDP - composition by sector
- agriculture: 3.4%
- industry: 23.0%
- services: 60.2%
(2018 estimate)
Inflation
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020* | 2021* |
| 6.2% | 5.3% | 4.3% | 1.2% | 2.1% |
*Estimate
Source
Unemployment rate
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020* | 2021* |
| 23% | 20.1% | 18.4% | 23.6% | 25% |
*Estimate
Source
Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP)
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020* | 2021* |
| 1.2% | 0.3% | –0.8% | –2.9% | –3.6% |
*Estimate
Source
Public deficit (General government net lending/borrowing as a % of GDP)
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020* | 2021* |
| 3.8% | 4.1% | 2.2% | –3.3% | 5.3% |
*Estimate
Source
Government bond ratings
Standard & Poor's: BBB–
Moody's: Baa1
Standard & Poor's / Moody's (January 2022)
Source
Market value of publicly traded shares
USD 17.7 billion (2020)
Source
Current account balance
USD 0.4 billion (2021 estimate)
IMF - World Economic Outlook, October 2021
Source
Current account balance by percentage of GDP
0.52% (2021 estimate)
IMF - World Economic Outlook, October 2021
Source
Exports as percent of GDP (Exports of goods and services)
55.3% (2020)
Shares in world total merchandising export
0.18% (2020)
Shares in world total commercial services export
0.2% (2020)
Export commodities
Refined petroleum, packaged medicines, copper, wheat, electricity (2019)
Advertisement
Source
Import commodities
Crude petroleum, copper, cars, packaged medicines, refined petroleum (2019)
Exports - major partners
Germany 16%, Romania 8%, Italy 7%, Turkey 7%, Greece 6% (2019)
Imports - major partners
Germany 11%, Russia 9%, Italy 7%, Romania 7%, Turkey 7% (2019)
FDI inflows
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| USD 1.1 million | USD 1.7 million | USD 2.4 million |
FDI outflows
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| USD 249 million | USD 420 million | USD 204 million |
Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
| USD 34 million | N/A | USD 94 million | 2.7 million |
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2014
N/A
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2015
N/A
Best countries for doing business
Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.
Overall ranking:
61 out of 190 countries
Subcategories:
Starting a Business: 113 out of 190 countries
Dealing with Construction Permits: 43 out of 190 countries
Getting Electricity: 151 out of 190 countries
Registering Property: 66 out of 190 countries
Getting Credit: 67 out of 190 countries
Protecting Minority Investors: 25 out of 190 countries
Paying Taxes: 97 out of 190 countries
Trading across Borders: 21 out of 190 countries
Enforcing Contracts: 42 out of 190 countries
Resolving Insolvency: 61 out of 190 countries
World Bank - Doing Business 2020
Source
Global competitiveness ranking
49 out of 141 countries
(2019)
Index of Economic Freedom
Ranking: 29 / Score: 71 (Mostly Free)
The Heritage Foundation - 2022 Index of Economic Freedom
Source
Source
Languages
Bulgarian (official) 76.8%, Turkish 8.2%, Romani 3.8%, other 0.7%, unspecified 10.5% (2011 est.)
Religions
Eastern Orthodox 59.4%, Muslim 7.8%, other (including Catholic, Protestant, Armenian Apostolic Orthodox, and Jewish) 1.7%, none 3.7%, unspecified 27.4% (2011 est.)
Total population
| 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2015 | 2020 |
| 8.72 million | 8.17 million | 7.4 million | 7.18 million | 6.93 million |
Source
Advertisement
Source
Urban population as % of total population
| 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2020 |
| 37.1% | 62.1% | 68.9% | 75.7% |
Literacy
Total population: 98.4%
Male: 98.7%
Female: 98.1% (2015)
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
% of population living on less than $3.10 a day
2.6% (last available estimate, 2019)
Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index)
40.3 (last available estimate, 2019)
Source
Freedom House rating
Total score: 79/100
Status: Free
Political Rights: 33/40
Civil Liberties: 46/60 (2022)
Source
Total telephone subscribers as % of population
Fixed: 12.6%
Mobile: 114.4% (2020) (fixed-telephone subscribers and mobile-cellular subscribers)