Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median in Bulgaria
Bulgaria: Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median was 14.6% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median in Bulgaria, 1992–2023
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Bulgaria recorded 14.6% for relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in 2023.
That represents a change of up 9.3% on the previous year and down 8.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in Bulgaria peaked at 16.3% in 2015 and was at its lowest, 10.3%, in 1992.
Bulgaria ranks 33rd of 120 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 19 years of available data.
Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median in Bulgaria, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 10.3% | — |
| 2006 | 15.8% | +53.9% |
| 2007 | 13.2% | -16.6% |
| 2008 | 12.6% | -4.6% |
| 2009 | 13.9% | +9.9% |
| 2010 | 15.1% | +8.7% |
| 2011 | 14.1% | -6.3% |
| 2012 | 14.9% | +5.2% |
| 2013 | 16.0% | +7.5% |
| 2014 | 14.9% | -6.9% |
| 2015 | 16.3% | +9.8% |
| 2016 | 15.7% | -3.7% |
| 2017 | 15.3% | -2.9% |
| 2018 | 14.1% | -7.8% |
| 2019 | 15.1% | +7.5% |
| 2020 | 13.0% | -14.1% |
| 2021 | 13.5% | +4.2% |
| 2022 | 13.3% | -1.6% |
| 2023 | 14.6% | +9.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 10.3% | 10.3% | 10.3% | 1 |
| 2000s | 13.9% | 12.6% | 15.8% | 4 |
| 2010s | 15.1% | 14.1% | 16.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 13.6% | 13.0% | 14.6% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Bulgaria
More poverty & inequality data for Bulgaria
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 8 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 1.75 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 5,224 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate 1.41 % change on previous year (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 29.97 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 30.0% (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in Bulgaria?
- Relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in Bulgaria was 14.6% in 2023, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median recorded in Bulgaria?
- The highest recorded value was 16.3% in 2015.
- What is the lowest relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median recorded in Bulgaria?
- The lowest recorded value was 10.3% in 1992.
- How does Bulgaria rank for relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median?
- Bulgaria ranks 33rd out of 120 countries with data for 2023.
- Is relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median rising or falling in Bulgaria?
- Over the last ten years it is down 8.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Bulgaria data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 19 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Percentage of population living in households with an income or consumption below 50% of the median.