Compensation of employees (% of expense) in Bulgaria
Bulgaria: Compensation of employees (% of expense) was 18.0% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Compensation of employees in Bulgaria, 1990–2023
Source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of expense.
Analysis
Bulgaria recorded 18.0% for compensation of employees in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 12.9% on the previous year and down 6.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, compensation of employees in Bulgaria peaked at 20.4% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 3.2%, in 1990.
Bulgaria ranks 107th of 155 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 34 years of available data.
Compensation of employees (% of expense) in Bulgaria, year by year
| Year | % of expense | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 3.2% | — |
| 1991 | 4.3% | +34.1% |
| 1992 | 6.2% | +43.5% |
| 1993 | 6.0% | -4.1% |
| 1994 | 5.9% | -1.0% |
| 1995 | 10.1% | +70.6% |
| 1996 | 7.8% | -22.9% |
| 1997 | 12.9% | +65.7% |
| 1998 | 19.0% | +46.6% |
| 1999 | 19.0% | +0.1% |
| 2000 | 20.4% | +7.6% |
| 2001 | 18.3% | -10.2% |
| 2002 | 19.2% | +5.0% |
| 2003 | 19.7% | +2.1% |
| 2004 | 19.7% | +0.2% |
| 2005 | 19.7% | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 20.2% | +2.4% |
| 2007 | 18.3% | -9.0% |
| 2008 | 19.6% | +6.9% |
| 2009 | 19.4% | -1.3% |
| 2010 | 20.0% | +3.1% |
| 2011 | 20.0% | +0.1% |
| 2012 | 19.1% | -4.4% |
| 2013 | 19.3% | +1.1% |
| 2014 | 17.2% | -11.1% |
| 2015 | 18.6% | +8.2% |
| 2016 | 18.3% | -1.5% |
| 2017 | 18.8% | +2.7% |
| 2018 | 18.3% | -2.9% |
| 2019 | 19.6% | +7.5% |
| 2020 | 19.2% | -2.3% |
| 2021 | 18.4% | -4.0% |
| 2022 | 16.0% | -13.3% |
| 2023 | 18.0% | +12.9% |
Bulgaria compared with similar countries
- Bulgaria's 18.0% is below the median for high income countries, which is 18.9%, 95% of the median. (56 countries reporting)
- Bulgaria's 18.0% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 16.4%, 1.1× the median. (47 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Compensation of employees (% of expense) in Bulgaria changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | +70.6% | 5.9% | 10.1% |
| 1997 | +65.7% | 7.8% | 12.9% |
| 1998 | +46.6% | 12.9% | 19.0% |
| 1992 | +43.5% | 4.3% | 6.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 9.5% | 3.2% | 19.0% | 10 |
| 2000s | 19.5% | 18.3% | 20.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 18.9% | 17.2% | 20.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 17.9% | 16.0% | 19.2% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Bulgaria
More public sector data for Bulgaria
- Democracy, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Chief executive of the government is elected, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Elected parliament, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Universal right to vote, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Universal right to vote in practice, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Arms imports 540.00 million SIPRI trend indicator values (2025)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), per capita 0.464 SIPRI trend indicator values per person (2022)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), per unit of GDP 0 SIPRI trend indicator values per US$ of GDP (2022)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), annual growth rate 200 % change on previous year (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is compensation of employees in Bulgaria?
- Compensation of employees in Bulgaria was 18.0% in 2023, according to Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest compensation of employees recorded in Bulgaria?
- The highest recorded value was 20.4% in 2000.
- What is the lowest compensation of employees recorded in Bulgaria?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.2% in 1990.
- How does Bulgaria rank for compensation of employees?
- Bulgaria ranks 107th out of 155 countries with data for 2023.
- Is compensation of employees rising or falling in Bulgaria?
- Over the last ten years it is down 6.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Bulgaria data come from?
- The figures come from Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Compensation of employees (% of expense). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 34 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Compensation of employees is defined as the total remuneration, in cash or in kind, payable by an enterprise to an employee in return for work done by the latter during the accounting period. This indicator is expressed as percentage of total expenses which is any decrease in net worth resulting from a transaction.