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Quick Facts
- Population:
- GDP (PPP):
- $178.2 billion
- 1.9% 5-year compound annual growth
- $25,914 per capita
- Unemployment:
- Inflation (CPI):
- Public Debt:
Bulgaria’s economic freedom score is 69.3, making its economy the 32nd freest in the 2023 Index. Its score has declined by 1.7 points. Bulgaria is ranked 19th out of 44 countries in the Europe region, and its overall score is above the world and regional averages.
Bulgaria’s transition to a more market-oriented economy has been facilitated by a decade of substantial restructuring measures. The country has made considerable progress while maintaining macroeconomic stability. Continued reform to strengthen the foundations of economic freedom will be critical. Corruption and the weak rule of law add to the cost of conducting business.
Background
The former People’s Republic of Bulgaria joined NATO in 2004 and the European Union in 2007. Kiril Petkov’s centrist We Continue the Change party was the upset winner of the November 2021 elections, but his coalition government collapsed in June 2022. Elections were scheduled for October. Pro-Russian independent Rumen Radev won a second presidential term in 2021. Tourism, information technology and telecommunications, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and textiles are leading industries. Bulgaria remains outside the Schengen Area but is closer to qualifying for eurozone membership. Challenges in the EU’s poorest nation include corruption and Russian penetration in the energy and media sectors.
Rule of Law
The overall rule of law is relatively well respected in Bulgaria. The country’s property rights score is above the world average; its judicial effectiveness score is above the world average; and its government integrity score is below the world average.
Government Size
The top individual and corporate tax rates are 10 percent. The tax burden equals 20.7 percent of GDP. Three-year government spending and budget balance averages are, respectively, 38.1 percent and –2.3 percent of GDP. Public debt equals 23.8 percent of GDP.
Launching a business has become less time-consuming, but the pace of reform has lagged behind the pace in some other countries. Labor regulations are relatively flexible, although the non-salary cost of employees can be burdensome. The most recent available inflation rate is 2.8 percent.
Open Markets
The trade-weighted average tariff rate (common among EU members) is 3.2 percent; more than 600 EU-mandated nontariff measures and 116 country-specific nontariff barriers are in force. Generally, foreign and domestic investors are treated equally. Measures to support financial-sector liquidity have been introduced.
FAQs
Economic indicators include measures of macroeconomic performance (gross domestic product [GDP], consumption, investment, and international trade) and stability (central government budgets, prices, the money supply, and the balance of payments).
Which is the best measure of economic growth of a country? ›
While there are a number of different ways to measure economic growth, the best-known and most frequently tracked and reported measure is gross domestic product (GDP).
What are the indicators of the financial sector? ›
| Table 1.1. Financial Soundness Indicators |
|---|
| Earnings and profitability | Return on assets Return on equity Interest margin to gross income Noninterest expenses to gross income |
| Liquidity | Liquid assets to total assets (liquid asset ratio) Liquid assets to short-term liabilities |
26 more rowsBuying power parity, market volume, and the GDP are all economic indicators used to evaluate the global economy.
What are the 10 leading indicators? ›
The ten components of The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® for the U.S. include: Average weekly hours in manufacturing; Average weekly initial claims for unemployment insurance; Manufacturers' new orders for consumer goods and materials; ISM® Index of New Orders; Manufacturers' new orders for nondefense capital ...
What is a leading economic indicator What are the top 5? ›
Top Leading Indicators
The yield curve, durable goods orders, the stock market, manufacturing orders, and building permits are some of the best indicators to use when trying to determine where the economy is headed.
Why is GDP not a good measure of well being? ›
GDP is an indicator of a society's standard of living, but it is only a rough indicator because it does not directly account for leisure, environmental quality, levels of health and education, activities conducted outside the market, changes in inequality of income, increases in variety, increases in technology, or the ...
What are the 4 key factors of economic growth and development? ›
What Are the 4 Factors of Economic Growth? The four main factors of economic growth are land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurship.
Is GDP outdated? ›
It's been the standard measure of economic growth for more than 70 years, but gross domestic product (GDP) is starting to look outdated, some experts say. This is because, as a key tracker of global progress, it is unable to account for and measure human, social or natural capital.
What is the most important indicator of profitability? ›
The gross profit margin and net profit margin ratios are two commonly used measurements of business profitability. Net profit margin reflects the amount of profit a business gets from its total revenue after all expenses are accounted for. Gross profit margin indicates profit that exceeds the cost of goods sold.
That said, learn the 10 most important financial indicators!
- Contribution margin. ...
- EBITDA margin. ...
- Net margin. ...
- Fixed costs and variable costs. ...
- Gross margin. ...
- Average ticket* ...
- Return on investment. ...
- Breakeven point.
And that's what we'll explore here.
- Five key financial ratios for analyzing stocks.
- Price-to-earnings, or P/E, ratio.
- Price/earnings-to-growth, or PEG, ratio.
- Price-to-sales, or P/S, ratio.
- Price-to-book, or P/B, ratio.
- Debt-to-equity, or D/E, ratio.
- Finding your way.
One of the most common is GDP, which stands for gross domestic product. It is often cited in newspapers, on the television news, and in reports by governments, central banks, and the business community. It has become widely used as a reference point for the health of national and global economies.
What are three major economic indicators used to measure the strength of the US economy? ›
Individual indicators that reflect different areas of the economy such as GDP, inflation, and unemployment, all parts of macroeconomics, help people assess the behavior of the overall economy.
What are the big three economic indicators? ›
When economists want to know how the economy is doing overall, the big three indicators we look to are gross domestic product, unemployment, and inflation. GDP is usually considered most important, since other indicators tend to rise and fall depending on what's happening with GDP.
What are the 4 key performance indicators? ›
We've broken down our list of KPIs into the four categories of the Balanced Scorecard: Financial, Customer, Process and People. Make sure you select a few from each category so that your strategy is well-balanced across the organization.
What are the 3 types of economic indicators? ›
An indicator can be any statistic that is used to predict and understand financial or economic trends. All indicators fall into one of three categories: Leading indicators, lagging indicators, and coincident indicators.
What are the four measures of economic performance? ›
We can measure economic performance by using economic performance indicators such as economic growth, employment and unemployment, inflation and deflation, and the balance of payments.
