Bulgaria: External debt

* indicates monthly or quarterly data series
 Bulgaria

External debt, percent of Gross National Income

 Latest value 54.02
 Year 2022
 Measure percent
 Data availability 1981 - 2022
 Average 70.41
 Min - Max 3.93 - 119.42
 Source The World Bank
The latest value from 2022 is 54.02 percent, a decline from 55.69 percent in 2021. In comparison, the world average is 56.76 percent, based on data from 113 countries. Historically, the average for Bulgaria from 1981 to 2022 is 70.41 percent. The minimum value, 3.93 percent, was reached in 1981 while the maximum of 119.42 percent was recorded in 1991. See the global rankings for that indicator or use the country comparator to compare trends over time.
Select indicator
* indicates monthly or quarterly data series


Recent data
Bulgaria - External debt - Recent values chart

Historical series
Bulgaria - External debt - historical chart - 1981-2022




The external debt of Bulgaria and other countries is reported as the total international obligations of the country as percent of its GDP. External debt of less than 60 percent of GDP is not a problem. At higher levels, paying the interest on the debt may start to become difficult.
Definition: Total external debt stocks to gross national income. Total external debt is debt owed to nonresidents repayable in currency, goods, or services. Total external debt is the sum of public, publicly guaranteed, and private nonguaranteed long-term debt, use of IMF credit, and short-term debt. Short-term debt includes all debt having an original maturity of one year or less and interest in arrears on long-term debt. GNI (formerly GNP) is the sum of value added by all resident producers plus any product taxes (less subsidies) not included in the valuation of output plus net receipts of primary income (compensation of employees and property income) from abroad.

Selected articles from our guide:

What factors determine the exchange rates

International lending and sovereign debt

All articles



 Related indicators Latest Reference Measure
 Terms of trade 102.18 2021 percent
 Trade openness 118.60 2023 percent
 Financial openness 0.464 2021 index points
 Exports, percent of GDP 60.88 2023 percent
 Exports, billion dollars 61.85 2023 billion U.S. dollars
 Growth of exports -1.88 2023 percent
 Imports, percent of GDP 57.72 2023 percent
 Imports, billion dollars 58.63 2023 billion U.S. dollars
 Foreign Direct Investment, percent of GDP 4.34 2023 percent
 Foreign Direct Investment, billion dollars 3.22 2022 billion U.S. dollars
 Portfolio investment inflows, equities -47.76 2023 million dollars (current)
 Current account, percent of GDP -0.30 2023 percent
 Current account, in dollars -0.25 2023 billion U.S. dollars
 Trade balance, percent of GDP 3.17 2023 percent
 Trade balance, in dollars 3.33 2023 billion U.S. dollars
 Reserves 46.33 2023 billion U.S. dollars
 Remittances, percent of GDP 2.44 2023 percent
 Remittances 2,479.84 2023 million U.S. dollars
 Net errors and omissions -92.56 2023 million USD
 External debt 54.02 2022 percent
 Short-term external debt 21.16 2022 percent
 Short-term debt to reserves 24.37 2022 percent
 Foreign exchange reserves 77.90 10/2024 billion
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