Bulgaria (2025)
8,862
EUR per person per year
+13.5% YoY
YoY Change
+13.5%
year-on-year
vs. EU-27 Average
38.6%
of EU-27 median, 2025
+18pp since 2010
Series length
16
years of data

Data

Median Equivalised Net Income in Bulgaria (2025) — source data. Eurostat.
Year EUR per person YoY Change
2025 8,862 +13.5%
2024 7,811 +19.7%
2023 6,523 +21.3%
2022 5,378 +4.3%
2021 5,157 +11.8%
2020 4,612 +9.2%
2019 4,224 +17.7%
2018 3,590 unchanged
2017 3,590 +13.9%
2016 3,151 -5.4%
2015 3,332 +0.6%
2014 3,311 +13.2%
2013 2,924 +2.2%
2012 2,860 -1.9%
2011 2,914 -3.4%
2010 3,017 n/a

About this Dataset

Bulgaria's median equivalised net income — the typical per-person disposable income after adjusting household income for household size — reached approximately 8,862 EUR in 2025, according to Eurostat's EU-SILC series (ILC_DI03). That marks a 13.5% increase from 7,811 EUR in 2024, extending a run of strong annual gains that has lifted the series by roughly 65% since 2022.

The key metric is convergence: Bulgaria's median income has likely grown from around 21% of the EU-27 average in 2010 to roughly 39% in 2025. Over the same 15 years, Bulgaria's income nearly tripled (+194%) while the EU-27 average rose 58% (from about 14,521 EUR to approximately 22,939 EUR). The absolute gap has widened in nominal terms, from close to 11,504 EUR in 2010 to around 14,077 EUR in 2025, even as the proportional gap has likely narrowed — Bulgaria typically remains among the lowest-income EU member states in euro terms despite the pace of catch-up.

Convergence has not been linear. Growth stalled and reversed in 2011–2012 (-3.4%, -1.9%), likely reflecting the lagged domestic effects of the 2009 financial crisis and subsequent eurozone debt crisis, before a slow recovery through the mid-2010s. Eurostat flags a break in the series in 2016, coinciding with a methodology adjustment to the underlying EU-SILC survey. Growth accelerated markedly from 2017 onward, including three consecutive strong years most recently: +21.3% in 2023, +19.7% in 2024, and +13.5% in 2025.

Coverage and methodology: Eurostat compiles median equivalised net income annually from EU-SILC (Statistics on Income and Living Conditions) microdata, adjusting household disposable income for household size and composition using the modified OECD equivalence scale (first adult = 1, each additional adult 14+ = 0.5, each child under 14 = 0.3). Figures are denominated in current-year euros and are not adjusted for inflation, so cross-year comparisons reflect nominal rather than real purchasing-power changes. The EU-27 aggregate used for comparison is Eurostat's EU27_2020 composition. The Bulgarian National Statistical Institute (NSI) provides the underlying EU-SILC microdata.

Frequently Asked Questions

Eurostat's EU-SILC data (dataset ILC_DI03) put Bulgaria's median equivalised net income at approximately 8,862 EUR per person in 2025, up from 7,811 EUR in 2024 — a year-on-year increase of roughly 13.5%. Equivalised income adjusts household disposable income for household size and composition using the modified OECD scale, so the figure represents typical per-person purchasing power rather than a raw household total.

In 2025, Bulgaria's median equivalised net income of roughly 8,862 EUR was about 39% of the EU-27 average of approximately 22,939 EUR, leaving an absolute gap of around 14,077 EUR. That proportional gap has likely narrowed compared with 2010, when Bulgaria's 3,017 EUR was only around 21% of the EU-27's 14,521 EUR, even though the absolute euro gap has widened over the period (from about 11,504 EUR to 14,077 EUR).

Bulgaria's median equivalised net income rose from about 3,017 EUR in 2010 to approximately 8,862 EUR in 2025 — nearly tripling, at around +194% over 15 years. The EU-27 average grew far more slowly over the same period, from roughly 14,521 EUR to about 22,939 EUR (+58%), which is the main reason Bulgaria's income has likely been converging toward the EU average even though it remains among the lowest in the bloc.

The series shows two consecutive years of decline: -3.4% in 2011 (to 2,914 EUR) and -1.9% in 2012 (to 2,860 EUR). This period likely reflects the lagged domestic impact of the 2009 global financial crisis and the eurozone debt crisis, which weighed on Bulgarian household incomes and labour markets well after the initial shock, before growth resumed from 2013 onward.

Convergence has not been linear. After a slow recovery through the mid-2010s, growth accelerated sharply from 2017, including a further break in the underlying EU-SILC series in 2016 that Eurostat flags as a methodology change. The most recent three years show particularly strong gains — +21.3% in 2023, +19.7% in 2024, and +13.5% in 2025 — suggesting the pace of convergence toward the EU-27 average has likely picked up markedly in the post-pandemic period.