Full democracy in Bulgaria
Bulgaria: Full democracy was 1 in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Full democracy in Bulgaria, 1878–2025
Source: Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for full democracy in Bulgaria is 1, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 148 years on record.
That represents a change of unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, full democracy in Bulgaria peaked at 1 in 2001 and was at its lowest, 0, in 1878.
Bulgaria ranks 1st of 197 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1880s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1890s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1900s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1910s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1920s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1930s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1940s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1950s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1960s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1970s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.9 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| 2010s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 2020s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
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More social development data for Bulgaria
- Political Rights Rating 2 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 105,596 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 533 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Key features of democracy 0.599 (2025)
- Freedom of Expression Index 0.754 (2025)
- Freedom of Association Index 0.833 (2025)
- Electoral Democracy Index 0.599 (2025)
- Participatory Democracy Index 0.397 (2025)
- Liberal Democracy Index 0.499 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is full democracy in Bulgaria?
- Full democracy in Bulgaria was 1 in 2025, according to Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest full democracy recorded in Bulgaria?
- The highest recorded value was 1 in 2001.
- What is the lowest full democracy recorded in Bulgaria?
- The lowest recorded value was 0 in 1878.
- How does Bulgaria rank for full democracy?
- Bulgaria ranks 1st out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is full democracy rising or falling in Bulgaria?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. 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 Full democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 148 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Identifies if a country is a full democracy using the extended Lexical Index of Electoral Democracy (LIED+).