Age of full democracy in Bulgaria
Bulgaria: Age of full democracy was 25 years in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Age of full democracy in Bulgaria, 2001–2025
Source: Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in years.
Analysis
Bulgaria recorded 25 years for age of full democracy in 2025. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 4.2% on the previous year and up 66.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, age of full democracy in Bulgaria peaked at 25 years in 2025 and was at its lowest, 1 years, in 2001.
Bulgaria ranks 69th of 89 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Age of full democracy in Bulgaria, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 1 years | — |
| 2002 | 2 years | +100.0% |
| 2003 | 3 years | +50.0% |
| 2004 | 4 years | +33.3% |
| 2005 | 5 years | +25.0% |
| 2006 | 6 years | +20.0% |
| 2007 | 7 years | +16.7% |
| 2008 | 8 years | +14.3% |
| 2009 | 9 years | +12.5% |
| 2010 | 10 years | +11.1% |
| 2011 | 11 years | +10.0% |
| 2012 | 12 years | +9.1% |
| 2013 | 13 years | +8.3% |
| 2014 | 14 years | +7.7% |
| 2015 | 15 years | +7.1% |
| 2016 | 16 years | +6.7% |
| 2017 | 17 years | +6.2% |
| 2018 | 18 years | +5.9% |
| 2019 | 19 years | +5.6% |
| 2020 | 20 years | +5.3% |
| 2021 | 21 years | +5.0% |
| 2022 | 22 years | +4.8% |
| 2023 | 23 years | +4.5% |
| 2024 | 24 years | +4.3% |
| 2025 | 25 years | +4.2% |
Bulgaria compared with similar countries
- Bulgaria's 25 years is below the median for high income countries, which is 57 years, 44% of the median. (52 countries reporting)
- Bulgaria's 25 years is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 50.5 years, 50% of the median. (32 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Age of full democracy in Bulgaria changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | +100.0% | 1 years | 2 years |
| 2003 | +50.0% | 2 years | 3 years |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 5 years | 1 years | 9 years | 9 |
| 2010s | 14.5 years | 10 years | 19 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 22.5 years | 20 years | 25 years | 6 |
Countries ranked near Bulgaria
More social development data for Bulgaria
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 105,596 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 533 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 2 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 2 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0001 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 533 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0164 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is age of full democracy in Bulgaria?
- Age of full democracy in Bulgaria was 25 years in 2025, according to Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest age of full democracy recorded in Bulgaria?
- The highest recorded value was 25 years in 2025.
- What is the lowest age of full democracy recorded in Bulgaria?
- The lowest recorded value was 1 years in 2001.
- How does Bulgaria rank for age of full democracy?
- Bulgaria ranks 69th out of 89 countries with data for 2025.
- Is age of full democracy rising or falling in Bulgaria?
- Over the last ten years it is up 66.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Bulgaria data come from?
- The figures come from Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Age of full democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Number of consecutive years in a full democracy.