Bulgaria's arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) was 540 million in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 13,400% from 4 million in 2015 (63.32% a year on average, compounded).
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 540 million | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 44 million | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 4 million | 2015 |
| Highest | 984 million | 1981 |
| Lowest | 1 million | 1993 |
| Average since 2019 | 118 million | 2019–2025 |
| First recorded | 482 million |
What the numbers say
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 12,100% in 1996 and the biggest yearly fall was 97.7% in 2021. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those 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 19th highest value of the 105 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 | 540 million | 2025 |
| World | 33.33 billion | 2025 |
| Europe & Central Asia | 14.57 billion | 2025 |
| High income | 20.57 billion | 2025 |
Closest to Bulgaria in the 2025 ranking
- United Kingdom — 16th of 105: 609 million
- Greece — 17th of 105: 574 million
- Italy — 18th of 105: 566 million
- Israel — 20th of 105: 537 million
- Belarus — 21st of 105: 466 million
- Azerbaijan — 22nd of 105: 463 million
What this measures
Arms transfers (imports) cover the volume of transfers of major arms through sales and gifts, and those made through manufacturing licenses. Data cover major conventional weapons such as aircraft, armored vehicles, artillery, radar systems, missiles, and ships. Figures are SIPRI Trend Indicator Values (TIVs). A '0' indicates that the volume of deliveries is between 0 and 0.5 million SIPRI TIV.
Limitations: SIPRI calculates the volume of transfers to, from and between all parties using the TIV and the number of weapon systems or subsystems delivered in a given year. This data is intended to provide a common unit to allow the measurement if trends in the flow of arms to particular countries and regions over time. Therefore, the main priority is to ensure that the TIV system remains consistent over time, and that any changes introduced are backdated. SIPRI TIV figures do not represent sales prices for arms transfers.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a sum.
All 54 values
| Year | Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 540,000,000 |
| 2024 | no data |
| 2023 | no data |
| 2022 | 3,000,000 |
| 2021 | 1,000,000 |
| 2020 | 44,000,000 |
| 2019 | 2,000,000 |
| 2018 | no data |
| 2017 | no data |
| 2016 | no data |
| 2015 |
Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) in nearby economies
- Albania — 23 million (2025)
- Armenia — 21 million (2025)
- Austria — 29 million (2025)
- Azerbaijan — 463 million (2025)
- Belarus — 466 million (2025)
- Belgium — 430 million (2025)
- Bosnia and Herzegovina — 1 million (2025)
- Croatia — 141 million (2025)
- Cyprus — 28 million (2025)
- Czechia — 19 million (2025)
More public sector data for Bulgaria
- Arms exports (SIPRI trend indicator values) — 33 million (2024)
- Military expenditure (current USD) — 2.59 billion (2025)
- Military expenditure (current LCU) — 4.49 billion (2025)
- Military expenditure (% of GDP) — 2.01% (2025)
- Net investment in nonfinancial assets (current LCU) — 1.9 billion (2024)
- Net investment in nonfinancial assets (% of GDP) — 1.81% (2024)
- Net lending (+) / net borrowing (-) (current LCU) — -2.76 billion (2024)
- Net lending (+) / net borrowing (-) (% of GDP) — -2.63% (2024)
- Social contributions (current LCU) — 9.28 billion (2024)
- Social contributions (% of revenue)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Bulgaria's arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values)?
- 540 million in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1960?
- It is up 12.03% from 482 million in 1960 (0.17% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 984 million in 1981 and the lowest 1 million in 1993.
- How does Bulgaria rank?
- 19th highest of 105 economies with data for 2025.
- Where does this data come from?
- The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Arms Transfers Programme, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), uri: https://armstransfers.sipri.org/ArmsTransfer/.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator MS.MIL.MPRT.KD, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Arms Transfers Programme, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), uri: https://armstransfers.sipri.org/ArmsTransfer/ 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.
Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.
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