Bulgaria: Debt service to exports (%)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2022, Bulgaria's debt service to exports (%) rose 1.91 percentage points on 2021 (from 1.04% to 2.95%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1992 to 2021), the average change was −0.15 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 3.12 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.7 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 6.54 percentage points in 1994 and the biggest yearly fall was 9.2 percentage points in 2006. 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 2022 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 8% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

Closest to Bulgaria in the 2022 ranking

• Vanuatu — 1st of 2: 5.92%

What this measures

Debt service, the sum of principal repayments and interest actually paid in currency, goods, or services, is expressed as a percentage of exports of goods and services--all transactions between residents of a country and the rest of the world involving a change of ownership from residents to nonresidents of general merchandise, net exports of goods under merchanting, nonmonetary gold, and services. This series differs from the standard debt to exports series in that it covers only long-term public and publicly guaranteed debt and repayments (repurchases and charges) to the IMF.

All 32 values

Debt service to exports (%) in nearby economies

• Albania — 6.21% (2024)
• Armenia — 3.88% (2024)
• Azerbaijan — 9.08% (2024)
• Belarus — 6.94% (2024)
• Bosnia and Herzegovina — 6.02% (2024)
• Georgia — 5.05% (2024)
• Kazakhstan — 5.9% (2024)
• Kosovo — 1.67% (2024)
• Kyrgyz Republic — 4.67% (2024)
• Moldova — 7% (2024)
• Montenegro — 12.14% (2024)

More economic policy & debt data for Bulgaria

• Adjusted savings, education expenditure (% of GNI) — 4.06% (2021)
• Adjusted savings, net forest depletion (current US$) — US$0 (2021)
• Adjusted savings, mineral depletion (current US$) — US$387.76 million (2021)
• Adjusted savings, energy depletion (current US$) — US$46.2 million (2021)
• Trade in services (% of GDP) — 21.44% (2025)
• Communications, computer, etc. (% of service imports, BoP) — 37.95% (2025)
• Primary income payments (BoP, current US$) — US$11.11 billion (2025)
• Imports of goods and services (current US$, BoP) — US$67.93 billion (2025)
• Goods imports (current US$, BoP) — US$58.51 billion (2025)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Bulgaria's debt service to exports (%)?

2.95% in 2022, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1991?

It is down 2.46 percentage points from 5.4% in 1991. The highest value was 18.45% in 1996 and the lowest 1.04% in 2021.

Is the latest change in debt service to exports (%) unusual for Bulgaria?

In 2022, Bulgaria's debt service to exports (%) rose 1.91 percentage points on 2021 (from 1.04% to 2.95%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1992 to 2021), the average change was −0.15 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 3.12 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.7 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: International Debt Statistics, World Bank (WB).

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator DT.TDS.DPPF.XP.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: International Debt Statistics, 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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