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

Health

be 29.4% less likely to be obese

In Turkey, 28.8% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Bulgaria, that number is 20.3% of people as of 2024.

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see 67.8% more spent on your healthcare

Turkey spends $1,769 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Bulgaria spends $2,970 as of 2023.

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have 93.6% more doctors per person

Turkey has 22.4 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2022. Bulgaria has 43.3 as of 2022.

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live 1.7 years less

In Turkey, the average life expectancy is 77 years (75 years for men, 80 years for women) as of 2024. In Bulgaria, that number is 76 years (72 years for men, 80 years for women) as of 2024.

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be 3.5 times more likely to die by suicide

Turkey has a suicide rate of 2.7 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Bulgaria, it is 9.5 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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Economy

be 58.5% less likely to be unemployed

In Turkey, 8.5% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Bulgaria, that number is 3.5% as of 2025.

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be 63.1% more likely to live below the poverty line

In Turkey, 13.0% live below the poverty line as of 2024. In Bulgaria, however, that number is 21.2% as of 2024.

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Life

be 60.0% less likely to die during childbirth

In Turkey, approximately 15.0 women die from pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 live births as of 2023. In Bulgaria, 6.0 women do as of 2023.

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be 42.5% less likely to die during infancy

In Turkey, approximately 8.0 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2024. In Bulgaria, on the other hand, 4.6 children do as of 2024.

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have 24.5% fewer children

In Turkey, there are approximately 11.0 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Bulgaria, there are 8.3 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

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Expenditures

spend 45.2% more on education

Turkey spends 3.1% of its total GDP on education as of 2022. Bulgaria spends 4.5% of total GDP on education as of 2022.

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spend 85.0% more on healthcare

Turkey spends 4.3% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2023. In Bulgaria, that number is 7.9% of GDP as of 2023.

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Geography

see 95.1% less coastline

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

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Safety

be 66.3% less likely to be murdered

Turkey has a homicide rate of 3.2 per 100,000 people as of 2023. In Bulgaria, that number is 1.1 per 100,000 as of 2023.

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be 40.2% more likely to feel safe walking alone at night

In Turkey, 61% of people feel safe walking alone at night as of 2022. In Bulgaria, that number is 86% as of 2020.

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be 29.2% more likely to die in a road accident

In Turkey, road accidents kill 6.5 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Bulgaria, they kill 8.4 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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Infrastructure

find 58.0% more home broadband

Turkey has 23.4 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2024. Bulgaria has 37.0 as of 2023.

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live with 16.0% less strain on fresh water

Turkey withdraws 48% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Bulgaria withdraws 40% as of 2022.

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use 43.7% more electricity

Turkey uses 3,731 kWh of electricity per person each year as of 2024. Bulgaria uses 5,360 kWh as of 2023.

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Environment

be 61.5% more likely to die from air pollution

In Turkey, air pollution causes 39.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Bulgaria, it causes 63.0 as of 2019.

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Sources: World Bank (2021–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (2019–2022), World Health Organization (2024), The World Factbook. How we calculate this

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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