Bulgaria: Births attended by skilled health staff (% of total)

Key figures

Over five years it is down 0.6 percentage points from 95.1% in 2016. Since 1989 it is down 4.8 percentage points from 99.3% in 1989. The World Bank has no value for 2 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2021, Bulgaria's births attended by skilled health staff (% of total) fell 0.1 percentage points on 2020 (from 94.6% to 94.5%).

Across the 28 yearly changes before that (1990 to 2020), the average change was −0.18 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.42 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 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 2.3 percentage points in 2020 and the biggest yearly fall was 6.3 percentage points in 2015. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2013 to 2021 the straight-line trend is downward, about 0.67 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 46% of the movement over 9 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 2021, Bulgaria had the 19th highest value of the 20 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.

Closest to Bulgaria in the 2021 ranking

• Slovak Republic — 16th of 20: 98%
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 17th of 20: 97.1%
• Peru — 18th of 20: 94.9%
• Burundi — 20th of 20: 76.5%

What this measures

Births attended by skilled health staff are the percentage of deliveries attended by personnel trained to give the necessary supervision, care, and advice to women during pregnancy, labor, and the postpartum period; to conduct deliveries on their own; and to care for newborns.

Limitations: For the indicators that are from household surveys, the year refers to the survey year. For more information, consult the original sources.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 31 values

Births attended by skilled health staff (% of total) in nearby economies

• Albania — 99.8% (2018)
• Armenia — 99.8% (2016)
• Austria — 98.1% (2020)
• Azerbaijan — 99.9% (2021)
• Belarus — 99.9% (2020)
• Bosnia and Herzegovina — 99.9% (2019)
• Croatia — 99.9% (2019)
• Cyprus — 99.3% (2019)
• Czechia — 99.8% (2017)
• Denmark

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

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Bulgaria's births attended by skilled health staff (% of total)?

94.5% in 2021, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1989?

It is down 4.8 percentage points from 99.3% in 1989. The highest value was 99.9% in 1996 and the lowest 92.3% in 2019.

How does Bulgaria rank?

19th highest of 20 economies with data for 2021.

Is the latest change in births attended by skilled health staff (% of total) unusual for Bulgaria?

In 2021, Bulgaria's births attended by skilled health staff (% of total) fell 0.1 percentage points on 2020 (from 94.6% to 94.5%). Across the 28 yearly changes before that (1990 to 2020), the average change was −0.18 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.42 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 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 SH.STA.BRTC.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: State of the World's Children, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF); Childinfo, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF); Demographic and Health Surveys, Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program 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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