Cost of living comparison

Panama

compared to

Bulgaria

Bulgaria vs. Panama Cost of Living Summary

Bulgaria is 30.0% cheaper than Panama overall.

Restaurants: pay 10.5% more in Bulgaria
Groceries: pay 34.9% less in Bulgaria
Transportation: pay 10.7% more in Bulgaria
Housing: pay 52.7% less in Bulgaria
Childcare: pay 20.5% less in Bulgaria
Entertainment and Sports: pay 21.3% less in Bulgaria
Clothing: pay 4.3% less in Bulgaria

The cost of transportation and restaurants in Bulgaria are more expensive than in Panama. Expenses including housing, groceries, entertainment and sports, childcare, and clothing are lower in Bulgaria.

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Bulgaria vs. Panama Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 10.5% more for restaurants

	Panama	Bulgaria
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.20 PAB8.20	$10.15 BGN17.66	+23.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.90 PAB8.90	$9.64 BGN16.77	+8.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.41 PAB1.41	$1.44 BGN2.50	+2.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.30 PAB1.30	$1.01 BGN1.75	-23.0%
Average			+10.5%

Panama vs. Bulgaria - Cost of restaurants

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pay 34.9% less for groceries

	Panama	Bulgaria
Bread 1 loaf	$2.28 PAB2.28	$0.95 BGN1.65	-58.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.18 PAB6.18	$4.69 BGN8.16	-24.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.09 PAB7.09	$6.44 BGN11.21	-9.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.56 PAB2.56	$3.03 BGN5.28	+18.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.42 PAB3.42	$3.28 BGN5.70	-4.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.86 PAB1.86	$0.70 BGN1.22	-62.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.59 PAB0.59	$0.85 BGN1.47	+42.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.76 PAB1.76	$0.80 BGN1.39	-54.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.67 PAB1.67	$1.05 BGN1.82	-37.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.09 PAB1.09	$0.51 BGN0.89	-53.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.14 PAB1.14	$0.44 BGN0.77	-61.5%
Average			-34.9%

Panama vs. Bulgaria - Cost of groceries

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pay 10.7% more for transportation

	Panama	Bulgaria
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.34 PAB4.34	$6.06 BGN10.54	+39.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$23.00 PAB23.00	$23.17 BGN40.33	+0.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$23,920.67 PAB23,920.67	$30,114.16 BGN52,407.07	+25.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$16.62 PAB16.62	$7.01 BGN12.19	-57.8%
Average			+10.7%

Panama vs. Bulgaria - Cost of transportation

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pay 52.7% less for housing

	Panama	Bulgaria
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$49.81 PAB49.81	$13.39 BGN23.30	-73.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$789.50 PAB789.50	$353.09 BGN614.48	-55.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$614.84 PAB614.84	$263.80 BGN459.09	-57.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$96.53 PAB96.53	$82.79 BGN144.08	-14.2%
Average			-52.7%

Panama vs. Bulgaria - Cost of housing

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pay 20.5% less for childcare

	Panama	Bulgaria
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$543.33 PAB543.33	$384.45 BGN669.05	-29.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,213.83 PAB7,213.83	$6,445.67 BGN11,217.27	-10.6%
Average			-20.5%

Panama vs. Bulgaria - Cost of childcare

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pay 21.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Panama	Bulgaria
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.21 PAB2.21	$2.06 BGN3.59	-6.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.73 PAB3.73	$2.17 BGN3.77	-41.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.29 PAB5.29	$3.64 BGN6.33	-31.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$50.91 PAB50.91	$31.52 BGN54.86	-38.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.13 PAB6.13	$7.19 BGN12.52	+17.3%
Average			-21.3%

Panama vs. Bulgaria - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 4.3% less for clothing

	Panama	Bulgaria
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$45.56 PAB45.56	$49.90 BGN86.85	+9.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.71 PAB36.71	$29.26 BGN50.92	-20.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$69.81 PAB69.81	$77.75 BGN135.31	+11.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$88.33 PAB88.33	$76.05 BGN132.34	-13.9%
Average			-4.3%

Panama vs. Bulgaria - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Panama vs. Bulgaria

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Bulgaria?

Quality of Life Comparison · 20 statistics

Be 57.7% less likely to be unemployed in Bulgaria

Size Comparison · See true size

Panama is about 1.5 times smaller than Bulgaria.

Moving from Panama to Bulgaria · UN DESA 2020

7 people born in Panama live in Bulgaria.

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