Quality of life comparison

compared to

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

Health

be 60.3% more likely to be obese

In Malaysia, 15.6% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Bulgaria, that number is 25.0% of people as of 2016.

Economy

pay a 64.3% lower top tax rate

Malaysia has a top tax rate of 28.0% as of 2016. In Bulgaria, the top tax rate is 10.0% as of 2016.

be 11.4% more likely to be unemployed

In Malaysia, 3.9% of adults are unemployed as of 2023. In Bulgaria, that number is 4.3% as of 2023.

be 3.3 times more likely to live below the poverty line

In Malaysia, 6.2% live below the poverty line as of 2021. In Bulgaria, however, that number is 20.6% as of 2022.

Life

be 66.7% less likely to die during childbirth

In Malaysia, approximately 21.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Bulgaria, 7.0 women do as of 2020.

be 21.1% more likely to die during infancy

In Malaysia, approximately 6.6 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 44.4% fewer children

In Malaysia, there are approximately 14.2 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Bulgaria, there are 7.9 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

Basic Needs

be 22.7% less likely to have internet access

In Malaysia, approximately 97.0% of the population has internet access as of 2021. In Bulgaria, about 75.0% do as of 2021.

Expenditures

spend 2.1 times more on healthcare

Malaysia spends 4.1% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In Bulgaria, that number is 8.5% of GDP as of 2020.

Geography

see 92.4% less coastline

Malaysia has a total of 4,675 km of coastline. In Bulgaria, that number is 354 km.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook, Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia, 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.
Read more

How big is Bulgaria compared to Malaysia? See an in-depth size comparison.

Share this

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Bulgaria.or Malaysia It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.