Bulgaria: Proportion of population facing impoverishing out-of-pocket health expenditure, based on the societal poverty line (%)

Key figures

Over five years it is down 3.18 percentage points from 11.89% in 2018. Since 1997 it is down 3.49 percentage points from 12.2% in 1997. The World Bank has no value for 15 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

From 2015 to 2023 the straight-line trend is downward, about 0.49 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 80% of the movement over 8 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 2023, Bulgaria had the 7th highest value of the 10 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 2023 ranking

• Greece — 4th of 10: 13.33%
• Luxembourg — 5th of 10: 12.58%
• Spain — 6th of 10: 9.19%
• Czechia — 8th of 10: 7.24%
• United States — 9th of 10: 5.32%
• Moldova — 10th of 10: 5.3%

What this measures

Proportion of population spending more than 100% of household discretionary budget on out-of-pocket health expenditure (%). This includes people living in poverty that are further impoverished due to out-of-pocket health expenditure as well as people who are pushed into poverty by out-of-pocket health expenditure. The discretionary budget is defined as the total household budget, measured by consumption expenditure or income, minus the societal poverty line (SPL ). Using 2017 purchasing power parities (PPPs), the SPL corresponds to whichever is greater: $2.15 (the international poverty line) or $1.15 + 50% of median household consumption expenditure or income, excluding out-of-pocket household expenditure on health. Out-of-pocket health expenditure is defined as any spending incurred by a household when any member uses a health good or service to receive any type of care (preventive, curative, rehabilitative, long-term or palliative care); provided by any type of provider; for any type of disease, illness or health condition; in any type of setting (outpatient, inpatient, at home).

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

All 12 values

Proportion of population facing impoverishing out-of-pocket health expenditure, based on the societal poverty line (%) in nearby economies

• Armenia — 11.04% (2020)
• Belarus — 7.81% (2020)
• Czechia — 7.24% (2023)
• Georgia — 18.01% (2024)
• Greece — 13.33% (2023)
• Kazakhstan — 7.05% (2018)
• Kyrgyz Republic

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

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Questions people ask

What is Bulgaria's proportion of population facing impoverishing out-of-pocket health expenditure, based on the societal poverty line (%)?

8.71% in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1997?

It is down 3.49 percentage points from 12.2% in 1997. The highest value was 12.99% in 2001 and the lowest 8.71% in 2023.

How does Bulgaria rank?

7th highest of 10 economies with data for 2023.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Universal Health Coverage Dataset, World Health Organization (WHO); World Bank (WB), note: Universal Health Coverage Dataset.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SH_UHC_FH40_IMPOV, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Universal Health Coverage Dataset, World Health Organization (WHO); World Bank (WB), note: Universal Health Coverage Dataset 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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