Bulgaria's age dependency ratio, young (% of working-age population) was 22.73% in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 1.62 percentage points from 21.11% in 2015.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 22.73% | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 22.59% | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 21.11% | 2015 |
| Highest | 39.24% | 1960 |
| Lowest | 19.33% | 2008 |
| Average since 2016 | 22.43% | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 39.24% | 1960 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, Bulgaria's age dependency ratio, young (% of working-age population) fell 0.07 percentage points on 2024 (from 22.8% to 22.73%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.15 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.45 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 0.37 percentage points in 2014 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.84 percentage points in 1992. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2016 to 2025 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.14 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 78% of the movement over 10 observed years.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
How it compares
In 2025, Bulgaria had the 182nd highest value of the 217 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Bulgaria | 22.73% | 2025 |
| World | 37.44% | 2025 |
| Europe & Central Asia | 26.72% | 2025 |
| High income | 23.98% | 2025 |
Closest to Bulgaria in the 2025 ranking
What this measures
Age dependency ratio, young, is the ratio of younger dependents--people younger than 15--to the working-age population--those ages 15-64. Data are shown as the proportion of dependents per 100 working-age population.
Limitations: Because the five-year age group is the cohort unit and five-year period data are used in the United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects, interpolations to obtain annual data or single age structure may not reflect actual events or age composition. For more information, see the original source.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 66 values
| Year | Age dependency ratio, young (% of working-age population) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 22.73 |
| 2024 | 22.8 |
| 2023 | 22.85 |
| 2022 | 22.8 |
| 2021 | 22.7 |
| 2020 | 22.59 |
| 2019 | 22.43 |
| 2018 | 22.16 |
| 2017 | 21.82 |
| 2016 | 21.45 |
| 2015 |
Age dependency ratio, young (% of working-age population) in nearby economies
- Albania — 25.25% (2025)
- Andorra — 16.18% (2025)
- Armenia — 28.52% (2025)
- Austria — 21.85% (2025)
- Azerbaijan — 30.45% (2025)
- Belarus — 24.14% (2025)
- Belgium — 24.79% (2025)
- Bosnia and Herzegovina — 19.98% (2025)
- Channel Islands — 21.41% (2025)
More health data for Bulgaria
- Population ages 00-04, female (% of female population) — 4.3% (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male (% of male population) — 4.85% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, female — 450,175 (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, female (% of female population) — 13.56% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, male — 476,203 (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, male (% of male population) — 15.3% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, total — 926,378 (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 (% of total population) — 14.4% (2025)
- Population ages 05-09, female (% of female population) — 4.5% (2025)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Bulgaria's age dependency ratio, young (% of working-age population)?
- 22.73% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1960?
- It is down 16.52 percentage points from 39.24% in 1960. The highest value was 39.24% in 1960 and the lowest 19.33% in 2008.
- How does Bulgaria rank?
- 182nd highest of 217 economies with data for 2025.
- Is the latest change in age dependency ratio, young (% of working-age population) unusual for Bulgaria?
- In 2025, Bulgaria's age dependency ratio, young (% of working-age population) fell 0.07 percentage points on 2024 (from 22.8% to 22.73%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.15 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.45 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SP.POP.DPND.YG, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN), publisher: UN Population Division; Staff estimates, World Bank (WB) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.
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