More than one in five Bulgarians were living below the poverty line in 2025, official data showed on April 23, highlighting persistent income inequality despite a slight improvement compared with the previous year.

Bulgaria remains the EU’s poorest member state by several income measures, despite steady economic growth in recent years.

The National Statistical Institute (NSI) said 1.37mn people, or 21.2% of the population, lived on less than BGN866.67 (about €443) per month last year. The threshold is defined as 60% of median disposable household income.

While the number of people at risk of poverty edged down by 0.5 percentage points year-on-year, the poverty line itself rose by 13.5%, reflecting higher average incomes.

The NSI said the social protection system plays a “key role” in limiting poverty. When pensions are included but other social transfers excluded, the poverty rate rises to 29%. If all social transfers are removed, the rate jumps to 45.4%.

Unemployment remains the strongest driver of poverty. In 2025, 55.1% of unemployed adults were at risk of poverty, with unemployed men facing a higher risk than women.

Among employed people aged 18–64, the poverty rate fell slightly to 11.8%, but part-time workers were around three times more likely to be poor than full-time employees. Working women were less exposed to poverty risk than men.

Education continued to be a key dividing line. Nearly half of workers with primary or no education were classified as poor (47.2%), compared with a significantly lower share among those with secondary education and just 4.3% among university graduates.

A broader EU-linked indicator, measuring poverty and social exclusion risk, showed that 29% of Bulgarians – about 1.87mn people – were affected in 2025. The figure was down 1.3 percentage points from 2024.