8 Billion Lives
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Where you could be born / Europe / Eastern Europe

Born in Bulgaria

About 1 in 2,110 people born in 2023 started life in Bulgaria. A boy can expect to live 72 years and a girl 79, up from 60 and 63 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 2,110
odds of being born here
62,600 births · Ranked 124th of 230
72 / 79
years of life, boys / girls
Was 60 / 63 in 1950
$14,385
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 68th of 203 · extrapolated
74%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 14 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 123 in every 1,000 births to 5.7.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
050100150195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth72.2 years for boys, 79.2 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 55.7 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year103,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people4.3World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles92%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.1%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year17 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 2.5 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.8, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
0123195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.75UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth27.9 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 46 and the poorest fifth 6.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2023
6%Poorest fifth
11%Second
15%Middle
21%Fourth
46%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $14,385 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth46% / 6% (2023)World Bank PIP
Unemployment4.3% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises9.4% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person2.0% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming6% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed12% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment96% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Sofia, with 1.2 million people.

74%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
99%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Sofia1.2 million
Plovdiv329,489
Varna318,737
Burgas210,646
Stara Zagora121,582
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Bulgarian100%
English25%
Russian23%
Turkish11%
German8%
Bulgarian is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Sofia-Capital1.2 million
Plovdiv447,389
Varna318,737
Burgas251,341
Stara Zagora184,609
Blagoevgrad147,564
Haskovo138,469
Veliko Tarnovo122,115
Ruse121,168
Pazardzhik113,571

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

All 28 regions
  • Sofia-Capital1.2 million
  • Plovdiv447,389
  • Varna318,737
  • Burgas251,341
  • Stara Zagora184,609
  • Blagoevgrad147,564
  • Haskovo138,469
  • Veliko Tarnovo122,115
  • Ruse121,168
  • Pazardzhik113,571
  • Sliven107,365
  • Pleven90,209
  • Pernik82,467
  • Kyustendil81,620
  • Montana81,065
  • Gabrovo72,715
  • Shumen72,342
  • Dobrich69,434
  • Yambol63,656
  • Targovishte51,364
  • Vratsa49,569
  • Lovech49,072
  • Sofia47,674
  • Kardzhali44,071
  • Vidin34,797
  • Smolyan30,689
  • Silistra29,498
  • Razgrad28,931

People on the move

About 19% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Turkey, Germany, Spain.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Turkey348,052
Germany338,439
Spain103,587
Residents born abroad4.4% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 18.5% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostTurkey (348,052), Germany (338,439), Spain (103,587)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $2.8 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

93% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 39%.

93%
of older people receive a pension (2022)
39%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2022)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 202438,700Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 19501NOAA NCEI

Now live it.

Born in Bulgaria, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Bulgaria

Elsewhere in Europe

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How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences