Quality of life comparison

compared to

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

Health

be 22.1% less likely to be obese

In Turkey, 32.1% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Bulgaria, that number is 25.0% of people as of 2016.

Economy

be 54.3% less likely to be unemployed

In Turkey, 9.4% of adults are unemployed as of 2023. In Bulgaria, that number is 4.3% as of 2023.

pay a 71.4% lower top tax rate

Turkey has a top tax rate of 35.0% as of 2016. In Bulgaria, the top tax rate is 10.0% as of 2016.

be 43.1% more likely to live below the poverty line

In Turkey, 14.4% live below the poverty line as of 2020. In Bulgaria, however, that number is 20.6% as of 2022.

Life

be 58.8% less likely to die during childbirth

In Turkey, approximately 17.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Bulgaria, 7.0 women do as of 2020.

be 58.8% less likely to die during infancy

In Turkey, approximately 19.4 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 42.8% fewer children

In Turkey, there are approximately 13.8 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Bulgaria, there are 7.9 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

Expenditures

spend 17.6% more on education

Turkey spends 3.4% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Bulgaria spends 4.0% of total GDP on education as of 2020.

spend 84.8% more on healthcare

Turkey spends 4.6% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In Bulgaria, that number is 8.5% of GDP as of 2020.

Geography

see 95.1% less coastline

Turkey has a total of 7,200 km of coastline. In Bulgaria, that number is 354 km.

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

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 Turkey? See an in-depth size comparison.

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