Cost of living in Bulgaria
23.9 with the United States at 100
Prices in Bulgaria are 76% cheaper than the United States, and it ranks 197th of 204 countries by price level (dearest first). Figures are for 2025.
Against New Zealand it is 73% cheaper.
The two agencies differ. For 2024, the World Bank's figure works out at 21.6 and Eurostat's at 43.0 — a gap of 21.5 points. That is wider than the 5-point band we treat as settled, so read this country's figure as indicative and check both sources before relying on it.
Compared with its region
Bulgaria against the Europe & Central Asia countries closest to it on price level.
- Bulgaria 23.9
- Belarus 27.6
- Uzbekistan 28.4
- Tajikistan 28.5
- Ukraine 28.5
- Russian Federation 31.4
- Azerbaijan 31.9
- Kyrgyz Republic 31.9
- Kazakhstan 36.7
SOURCE·World Bank — International Comparison Program·PPP conversion factor for household final consumption, and the official market exchange rate. CC BY 4.0.·REVIEWED AUG 2026
What is dear and what is cheap
Eurostat prices 19 spending categories separately for Bulgaria (2024), again with the United States at 100. This is where a national average stops being one number: a country can be cheap to eat in and expensive to drive in.
- Milk, cheese and eggs 125.7
- Non-alcoholic drinks 108.2
- Alcoholic drinks 107.4
- Food and non-alcoholic drinks 88.8
- Fish 83.7
- Communication 82.8
- Fruit and vegetables 81.5
- Clothing and footwear 79.1
- Furnishings and household equipment 75.0
- Meat 74.8
- Bread and cereals 73.1
- Transport 72.0
- Recreation and culture 68.2
- Restaurants and hotels 53.2
- Education 51.6
- Tobacco 49.1
- Health 44.3
- Overall consumption (incl. government-funded services) 38.1
- Housing, water, electricity and fuel 38.1
SOURCE·Eurostat — purchasing power parities (prc_ppp_ind)·Price level indices by consumption category, published on an EU27=100 basis and rebased here to US=100. CC BY 4.0.·REVIEWED AUG 2026
What this figure is, and is not
- It is an index, not a price. 23.9 means the general level of consumer prices, with the US at 100. It is not a shopping bill and this site never quotes one.
- It is national, not city. Sofia is almost certainly dearer than this. National averages cannot answer a city question.
- It is not your budget. What you actually spend depends on rent, transport and habits far more than on the national average.
How the price level is worked out
- The World Bank publishes a purchasing power parity for household consumption — how much local currency buys the same basket as one US dollar — and the official market exchange rate for the same year.
- The price level is simply PPP ÷ exchange rate × 100. If a basket needs 1.50 New Zealand dollars per US dollar of purchasing power but the market hands you 1.65 New Zealand dollars for that dollar, New Zealand's prices sit at 1.50 ÷ 1.65 = 91% of the US level.
- Nothing is modelled, smoothed or estimated. You can reproduce every number on this site from two public figures.
- Where Eurostat also publishes a price level for the same country and year, the two are compared and the gap is printed — including when they disagree.
SOURCE·World Bank — International Comparison Program·PPP conversion factor for household final consumption, and the official market exchange rate. CC BY 4.0.·REVIEWED AUG 2026
SOURCE·World Bank ICP PPPs + Eurostat price level indices·price levels derived as PPP ÷ exchange rate, see method·REVIEWED AUG 2026