Quality of life comparison

compared to

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

Economy

make 2.1 times more money

Iran has a GDP per capita of $16,200 as of 2023, while in Bulgaria, the GDP per capita is $33,300 as of 2023.

be 52.7% less likely to be unemployed

In Iran, 9.1% of adults are unemployed as of 2023. In Bulgaria, that number is 4.3% as of 2023.

be 10.2% more likely to live below the poverty line

In Iran, 18.7% live below the poverty line as of 2007. In Bulgaria, however, that number is 20.6% as of 2022.

Life

be 68.2% less likely to die during childbirth

In Iran, approximately 22.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Bulgaria, 7.0 women do as of 2020.

be 10.9% more likely to be literate

In Iran, the literacy rate is 88.7% as of 2021. In Bulgaria, it is 98.4% as of 2021.

be 46.2% less likely to die during infancy

In Iran, approximately 14.8 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 44.8% fewer children

In Iran, there are approximately 14.3 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Bulgaria, there are 7.9 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

Expenditures

spend 11.1% more on education

Iran spends 3.6% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Bulgaria spends 4.0% of total GDP on education as of 2020.

spend 60.4% more on healthcare

Iran spends 5.3% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In Bulgaria, that number is 8.5% of GDP as of 2020.

Geography

see 85.5% less coastline

Iran has a total of 2,440 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 Iran? See an in-depth size comparison.

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