Quality of life comparison

compared to

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

Health

live 4.1 years less

In Cuba, the average life expectancy is 80 years (77 years for men, 82 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

make 2.2 times more money

Cuba has a GDP per capita of $12,300 as of 2016, while in Bulgaria, the GDP per capita is $27,000 as of 2022.

be 3.4 times more likely to be unemployed

In Cuba, 1.2% of adults are unemployed as of 2022. In Bulgaria, that number is 4.3% as of 2022.

Life

be 82.1% less likely to die during childbirth

In Cuba, approximately 39.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Bulgaria, 7.0 women do as of 2020.

be 93.2% more likely to die during infancy

In Cuba, approximately 4.1 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Bulgaria, on the other hand, 8.0 children do as of 2022.

have 20.2% fewer children

In Cuba, there are approximately 9.9 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Bulgaria, there are 7.9 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

Expenditures

spend 68.8% less on education

Cuba spends 12.8% of its total GDP on education as of 2010. Bulgaria spends 4.0% of total GDP on education as of 2020.

spend 32.0% less on healthcare

Cuba spends 12.5% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In Bulgaria, that number is 8.5% of GDP as of 2020.

Geography

see 90.5% less coastline

Cuba has a total of 3,735 km of coastline. In Bulgaria, that number is 354 km.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook.

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 Cuba? See an in-depth size comparison.

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