Public social spending as share of GDP in Bulgaria
Bulgaria: Public social spending as share of GDP was 20.5% in 2021. ▲ Rising
Public social spending as share of GDP in Bulgaria, 2005–2021
Source: OECD (2025); OECD (1985); Lindert (2004) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Bulgaria recorded 20.5% for public social spending as share of gdp in 2021. That is the highest value across all 17 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 4.7% on the previous year and up 32.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, public social spending as share of gdp in Bulgaria peaked at 20.5% in 2021 and was at its lowest, 13.1%, in 2007.
Bulgaria ranks 21st of 42 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 17 years of available data.
Public social spending as share of GDP in Bulgaria, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 14.9% | — |
| 2006 | 14.0% | -5.5% |
| 2007 | 13.1% | -6.4% |
| 2008 | 13.8% | +5.1% |
| 2009 | 15.6% | +13.2% |
| 2010 | 16.3% | +4.1% |
| 2011 | 15.5% | -4.9% |
| 2012 | 16.5% | +6.3% |
| 2013 | 17.8% | +7.9% |
| 2014 | 18.4% | +3.8% |
| 2015 | 17.6% | -4.5% |
| 2016 | 17.2% | -2.1% |
| 2017 | 16.8% | -2.2% |
| 2018 | 16.8% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 16.5% | -1.7% |
| 2020 | 19.6% | +18.4% |
| 2021 | 20.5% | +4.7% |
Bulgaria compared with similar countries
- Bulgaria's 20.5% is below the median for high income countries, which is 22.3%, 92% of the median. (38 countries reporting)
- Bulgaria's 20.5% is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 23.0%, 89% of the median. (30 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 14.3% | 13.1% | 15.6% | 5 |
| 2010s | 16.9% | 15.5% | 18.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 20.0% | 19.6% | 20.5% | 2 |
Countries ranked near Bulgaria
More reference data data for Bulgaria
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.3067 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.2728 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 1.73 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.2506 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 1.73 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1.03 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.608 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 1.02 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 7.74 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 1.36 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is public social spending as share of gdp in Bulgaria?
- Public social spending as share of gdp in Bulgaria was 20.5% in 2021, according to OECD (2025); OECD (1985); Lindert (2004) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest public social spending as share of gdp recorded in Bulgaria?
- The highest recorded value was 20.5% in 2021.
- What is the lowest public social spending as share of gdp recorded in Bulgaria?
- The lowest recorded value was 13.1% in 2007.
- How does Bulgaria rank for public social spending as share of gdp?
- Bulgaria ranks 21st out of 42 countries with data for 2021.
- Is public social spending as share of gdp rising or falling in Bulgaria?
- Over the last ten years it is up 32.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Bulgaria data come from?
- The figures come from OECD (2025); OECD (1985); Lindert (2004) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Public social spending as share of GDP. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 17 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Public social expenditure divided bt gross domestic product, expressed as a percentage.