Bulgaria's merchandise trade (% of GDP) was 83.51% in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is down 23.99 percentage points from 107.5% in 2015.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 83.51% | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 95.06% | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 107.5% | 2015 |
| Highest | 153.4% | 1985 |
| Lowest | 48.87% | 1990 |
| Average since 2016 | 101.71% | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 100.1% | 1980 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, Bulgaria's merchandise trade (% of GDP) fell 7.26 percentage points on 2024 (from 90.77% to 83.51%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.08 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 13.43 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 standard deviations below 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 50.09 percentage points in 1991 and the biggest yearly fall was 95.52 percentage points in 1990. 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 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 30% 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.
How it compares
In 2025, Bulgaria had the 42nd highest value of the 188 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 | 83.51% | 2025 |
| World | 43.89% | 2025 |
| Europe & Central Asia | 62.17% | 2025 |
| High income | 45.19% | 2025 |
Closest to Bulgaria in the 2025 ranking
- Lebanon — 39th of 188: 85.88%
- Serbia — 40th of 188: 84.58%
- Solomon Islands — 41st of 188: 83.85%
- Micronesia, Fed. Sts. — 43rd of 188: 83.5%
- Bhutan — 44th of 188: 83.28%
- Bosnia and Herzegovina — 45th of 188: 83.25%
What this measures
General merchandise trade includes goods whose economic ownership is changed between a resident and a non-resident and that are not included in the following specific categories: goods under merchanting, non-monetary gold, and parts of travel, construction, and government goods and services n.i.e. It is the total of merchandise exports plus merchandise imports. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 46 values
| Year | Merchandise trade (% of GDP) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 83.51 |
| 2024 | 90.77 |
| 2023 | 99.42 |
| 2022 | 119.19 |
| 2021 | 103.54 |
| 2020 | 95.06 |
| 2019 | 103.64 |
| 2018 | 108.13 |
| 2017 | 110.9 |
| 2016 | 102.92 |
| 2015 |
Merchandise trade (% of GDP) in nearby economies
More private sector & trade data for Bulgaria
- Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$60.89 billion (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$48.32 billion (2025)
- Computer, communications and other services (% of commercial service imports) — 38.43% (2025)
- Commercial service imports (current US$) — US$9.42 billion (2025)
- Transport services (% of commercial service imports) — 30.57% (2025)
- Travel services (% of commercial service imports) — 24.69% (2025)
- Computer, communications and other services (% of commercial service exports) — 51.93% (2025)
- Commercial service exports (current US$) — US$18.56 billion (2025)
- Transport services (% of commercial service exports)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Bulgaria's merchandise trade (% of GDP)?
- 83.51% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1980?
- It is down 16.59 percentage points from 100.1% in 1980. The highest value was 153.4% in 1985 and the lowest 48.87% in 1990.
- How does Bulgaria rank?
- 42nd highest of 188 economies with data for 2025.
- Is the latest change in merchandise trade (% of GDP) unusual for Bulgaria?
- In 2025, Bulgaria's merchandise trade (% of GDP) fell 7.26 percentage points on 2024 (from 90.77% to 83.51%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.08 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 13.43 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 standard deviations below 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 TG.VAL.TOTL.GD.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: World Trade Organization (WTO); World Bank GDP estimates, World Bank (WB); World Development Indicators, 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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