Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Bulgaria instead of Croatia, you would:

Health

live 1.7 years less

In Croatia, the average life expectancy is 77 years (74 years for men, 81 years for women) as of 2022. In Bulgaria, that number is 76 years (72 years for men, 79 years for women) as of 2022.

Economy

be 29.0% less likely to be unemployed

In Croatia, 6.1% of adults are unemployed as of 2023. In Bulgaria, that number is 4.3% as of 2023.

pay a 78.8% lower top tax rate

Croatia has a top tax rate of 47.2% as of 2016. In Bulgaria, the top tax rate is 10.0% as of 2016.

make 19.4% less money

Croatia has a GDP per capita of $41,300 as of 2023, while in Bulgaria, the GDP per capita is $33,300 as of 2023.

be 14.4% more likely to live below the poverty line

In Croatia, 18.0% live below the poverty line as of 2021. In Bulgaria, however, that number is 20.6% as of 2022.

Life

be 40.0% more likely to die during childbirth

In Croatia, approximately 5.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Bulgaria, 7.0 women do as of 2020.

Expenditures

spend 27.3% less on education

Croatia spends 5.5% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Bulgaria spends 4.0% of total GDP on education as of 2020.

Geography

see 93.9% less coastline

Croatia has a total of 5,835 km of coastline. In Bulgaria, that number is 354 km.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: Croatia Tax Administration, The World Factbook, National Revenue Agency, Bulgaria.

Bulgaria: At a glance

Bulgaria is a sovereign country in Europe, with a total land area of approximately 108,489 sq km. The Bulgars, a Central Asian Turkic tribe, merged with the local Slavic inhabitants in the late 7th century to form the first Bulgarian state. In succeeding centuries, Bulgaria struggled with the Byzantine Empire to assert its place in the Balkans, but by the end of the 14th century the country was overrun by the Ottoman Turks. Northern Bulgaria attained autonomy in 1878 and all of Bulgaria became independent from the Ottoman Empire in 1908. Having fought on the losing side in both World Wars, Bulgaria fell within the Soviet sphere of influence and became a People's Republic in 1946. Communist domination ended in 1990, when Bulgaria held its first multiparty election since World War II and began the contentious process of moving toward political democracy and a market economy while combating inflation, unemployment, corruption, and crime. The country joined NATO in 2004 and the EU in 2007.
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How big is Bulgaria compared to Croatia? See an in-depth size comparison.

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