One in Five Bulgarians Lives Below the Poverty Line

In 2025, the poverty line in Bulgaria stood at 866.67 lev per person per month on average for a household, with 1,368,700 people living below it. That represents 21.2% of the country’s population, according to data from the National Statistical Institute.

Compared with the previous year, the poverty line rose by 13.5%, while the relative share of the poor population fell by 0.5 percentage points.

The 2025 data show that if household income includes pensions but excludes other social transfers — such as benefits, social assistance, and family allowances and supplements — the poverty rate rises from 21.2% to 29.0%, or by 7.8 percentage points. Excluding both pensions and other social transfers increases the poverty rate to 45.4%, or by 24.2 percentage points.

For the majority of the population, the main factor increasing the risk of falling into poverty is economic activity and participation in the labour market.

Throughout the observation period, the relative share of poor people aged 18 and over has been highest among the unemployed, reaching 55.1% in 2025. The risk of poverty among unemployed men was 5.8 percentage points higher than among unemployed women.