What is varieties of democracy in Bulgaria?

Varieties of democracy in Bulgaria was 0.599 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

What is the highest varieties of democracy recorded in Bulgaria?

The highest recorded value was 0.721 in 2002.

What is the lowest varieties of democracy recorded in Bulgaria?

The lowest recorded value was 0.018 in 1840.

How does Bulgaria rank for varieties of democracy?

Bulgaria ranks 72nd out of 176 countries with data for 2025.

Is varieties of democracy rising or falling in Bulgaria?

Over the last ten years it is down 10.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.

Where does this Bulgaria data come from?

The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Varieties of democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Varieties of democracy in Bulgaria

Name: Varieties of democracy in Bulgaria
Creator: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
License: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)

Bulgaria: Varieties of democracy was 0.599 in 2025. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2025)

0.599

Change on year

down 7.1%

World rank

72nd

of 176 countries

All-time high

0.721

in 2002

All-time low

0.018

in 1840

Years of data

237

1789–2025

Varieties of democracy in Bulgaria, 1789–2025

Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

Analysis

Bulgaria recorded 0.599 for varieties of democracy in 2025.

That represents a change of down 7.1% on the previous year and down 10.7% over ten years.

Over the whole period, varieties of democracy in Bulgaria peaked at 0.721 in 2002 and was at its lowest, 0.018, in 1840.

That places Bulgaria 72nd out of 176 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Varieties of democracy in Bulgaria, year by year

Annual values for Varieties of democracy in Bulgaria, 1789 to 2025.
Year	Value	Change
1789	0.02	—
1790	0.02	+0.0%
1791	0.02	+0.0%
1792	0.02	+0.0%
1793	0.02	+0.0%
1794	0.02	+0.0%
1795	0.02	+0.0%
1796	0.02	+0.0%
1797	0.02	+0.0%
1798	0.02	+0.0%
1799	0.02	+0.0%
1800	0.02	+0.0%
1801	0.02	+0.0%
1802	0.02	+0.0%
1803	0.02	+0.0%
1804	0.02	+0.0%
1805	0.02	+0.0%
1806	0.02	+0.0%
1807	0.02	+0.0%
1808	0.02	+0.0%
1809	0.019	-5.0%
1810	0.019	+0.0%
1811	0.019	+0.0%
1812	0.019	+0.0%
1813	0.019	+0.0%
1814	0.019	+0.0%
1815	0.019	+0.0%
1816	0.019	+0.0%
1817	0.019	+0.0%
1818	0.019	+0.0%
1819	0.019	+0.0%
1820	0.019	+0.0%
1821	0.019	+0.0%
1822	0.019	+0.0%
1823	0.019	+0.0%
1824	0.019	+0.0%
1825	0.019	+0.0%
1826	0.019	+0.0%
1827	0.019	+0.0%
1828	0.019	+0.0%
1829	0.019	+0.0%
1830	0.019	+0.0%
1831	0.019	+0.0%
1832	0.019	+0.0%
1833	0.019	+0.0%
1834	0.019	+0.0%
1835	0.019	+0.0%
1836	0.019	+0.0%
1837	0.019	+0.0%
1838	0.019	+0.0%
1839	0.019	+0.0%
1840	0.018	-5.3%
1841	0.018	+0.0%
1842	0.018	+0.0%
1843	0.018	+0.0%
1844	0.018	+0.0%
1845	0.018	+0.0%
1846	0.018	+0.0%
1847	0.018	+0.0%
1848	0.018	+0.0%
1849	0.018	+0.0%
1850	0.018	+0.0%
1851	0.018	+0.0%
1852	0.018	+0.0%
1853	0.018	+0.0%
1854	0.018	+0.0%
1855	0.018	+0.0%
1856	0.018	+0.0%
1857	0.018	+0.0%
1858	0.018	+0.0%
1859	0.018	+0.0%
1860	0.03	+66.7%
1861	0.034	+13.3%
1862	0.034	+0.0%
1863	0.034	+0.0%
1864	0.034	+0.0%
1865	0.033	-2.9%
1866	0.033	+0.0%
1867	0.035	+6.1%
1868	0.035	+0.0%
1869	0.035	+0.0%
1870	0.035	+0.0%
1871	0.035	+0.0%
1872	0.035	+0.0%
1873	0.035	+0.0%
1874	0.035	+0.0%
1875	0.035	+0.0%
1876	0.1	+185.7%
1877	0.031	-69.0%
1878	0.105	+238.7%
1879	0.235	+123.8%
1880	0.258	+9.8%
1881	0.154	-40.3%
1882	0.101	-34.4%
1883	0.111	+9.9%
1884	0.187	+68.5%
1885	0.196	+4.8%
1886	0.204	+4.1%
1887	0.185	-9.3%
1888	0.133	-28.1%
1889	0.133	+0.0%
1890	0.132	-0.8%
1891	0.13	-1.5%
1892	0.13	+0.0%
1893	0.132	+1.5%
1894	0.137	+3.8%
1895	0.217	+58.4%
1896	0.218	+0.5%
1897	0.219	+0.5%
1898	0.219	+0.0%
1899	0.209	-4.6%
1900	0.204	-2.4%
1901	0.218	+6.9%
1902	0.219	+0.5%
1903	0.218	-0.5%
1904	0.211	-3.2%
1905	0.211	+0.0%
1906	0.212	+0.5%
1907	0.212	+0.0%
1908	0.22	+3.8%
1909	0.227	+3.2%
1910	0.227	+0.0%
1911	0.227	+0.0%
1912	0.221	-2.6%
1913	0.214	-3.2%
1914	0.203	-5.1%
1915	0.202	-0.5%
1916	0.2	-1.0%
1917	0.2	+0.0%
1918	0.202	+1.0%
1919	0.207	+2.5%
1920	0.212	+2.4%
1921	0.21	-0.9%
1922	0.21	+0.0%
1923	0.168	-20.0%
1924	0.172	+2.4%
1925	0.17	-1.2%
1926	0.174	+2.4%
1927	0.177	+1.7%
1928	0.179	+1.1%
1929	0.179	+0.0%
1930	0.181	+1.1%
1931	0.191	+5.5%
1932	0.193	+1.0%
1933	0.193	+0.0%
1934	0.127	-34.2%
1935	0.093	-26.8%
1936	0.093	+0.0%
1937	0.093	+0.0%
1938	0.118	+26.9%
1939	0.111	-5.9%
1940	0.125	+12.6%
1941	0.12	-4.0%
1942	0.12	+0.0%
1943	0.138	+15.0%
1944	0.15	+8.7%
1945	0.074	-50.7%
1946	0.133	+79.7%
1947	0.126	-5.3%
1948	0.162	+28.6%
1949	0.168	+3.7%
1950	0.165	-1.8%
1951	0.163	-1.2%
1952	0.163	+0.0%
1953	0.166	+1.8%
1954	0.172	+3.6%
1955	0.172	+0.0%
1956	0.173	+0.6%
1957	0.176	+1.7%
1958	0.17	-3.4%
1959	0.17	+0.0%
1960	0.171	+0.6%
1961	0.171	+0.0%
1962	0.175	+2.3%
1963	0.175	+0.0%
1964	0.175	+0.0%
1965	0.175	+0.0%
1966	0.176	+0.6%
1967	0.176	+0.0%
1968	0.176	+0.0%
1969	0.176	+0.0%
1970	0.176	+0.0%
1971	0.176	+0.0%
1972	0.176	+0.0%
1973	0.176	+0.0%
1974	0.176	+0.0%
1975	0.177	+0.6%
1976	0.176	-0.6%
1977	0.176	+0.0%
1978	0.176	+0.0%
1979	0.176	+0.0%
1980	0.176	+0.0%
1981	0.177	+0.6%
1982	0.178	+0.6%
1983	0.178	+0.0%
1984	0.18	+1.1%
1985	0.18	+0.0%
1986	0.181	+0.6%
1987	0.181	+0.0%
1988	0.181	+0.0%
1989	0.182	+0.6%
1990	0.572	+214.3%
1991	0.622	+8.7%
1992	0.698	+12.2%
1993	0.693	-0.7%
1994	0.692	-0.1%
1995	0.691	-0.1%
1996	0.698	+1.0%
1997	0.712	+2.0%
1998	0.707	-0.7%
1999	0.716	+1.3%
2000	0.717	+0.1%
2001	0.692	-3.5%
2002	0.721	+4.2%
2003	0.721	+0.0%
2004	0.721	+0.0%
2005	0.701	-2.8%
2006	0.706	+0.7%
2007	0.705	-0.1%
2008	0.711	+0.9%
2009	0.691	-2.8%
2010	0.674	-2.5%
2011	0.672	-0.3%
2012	0.664	-1.2%
2013	0.657	-1.1%
2014	0.673	+2.4%
2015	0.671	-0.3%
2016	0.667	-0.6%
2017	0.624	-6.4%
2018	0.612	-1.9%
2019	0.609	-0.5%
2020	0.607	-0.3%
2021	0.665	+9.6%
2022	0.679	+2.1%
2023	0.659	-2.9%
2024	0.645	-2.1%
2025	0.599	-7.1%

Bulgaria compared with similar countries

Bulgaria's 0.599 is below the median for high income countries, which is 0.786, 76% of the median. (55 countries reporting)
Bulgaria's 0.599 is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 0.737, 81% of the median. (48 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1780s	0.02	0.02	0.02	1
1790s	0.02	0.02	0.02	10
1800s	0.0199	0.019	0.02	10
1810s	0.019	0.019	0.019	10
1820s	0.019	0.019	0.019	10
1830s	0.019	0.019	0.019	10
1840s	0.018	0.018	0.018	10
1850s	0.018	0.018	0.018	10
1860s	0.0337	0.03	0.035	10
1870s	0.0681	0.031	0.235	10
1880s	0.1662	0.101	0.258	10
1890s	0.1743	0.13	0.219	10
1900s	0.2152	0.204	0.227	10
1910s	0.2103	0.2	0.227	10
1920s	0.1851	0.168	0.212	10
1930s	0.1393	0.093	0.193	10
1940s	0.1316	0.074	0.168	10
1950s	0.169	0.163	0.176	10
1960s	0.1746	0.171	0.176	10
1970s	0.1761	0.176	0.177	10
1980s	0.1794	0.176	0.182	10
1990s	0.6801	0.572	0.716	10
2000s	0.7086	0.691	0.721	10
2010s	0.6523	0.609	0.674	10
2020s	0.6423	0.599	0.679	6

Countries ranked near Bulgaria

69 Ecuador 0.607 compare
70 Bolivia 0.605 compare
70 Romania 0.605 compare
73 Liberia 0.597 compare
74 Paraguay 0.581 compare
75 Bhutan 0.566 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

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)

All data for Bulgaria →

Frequently asked questions

What is varieties of democracy in Bulgaria?: Varieties of democracy in Bulgaria was 0.599 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest varieties of democracy recorded in Bulgaria?: The highest recorded value was 0.721 in 2002.
What is the lowest varieties of democracy recorded in Bulgaria?: The lowest recorded value was 0.018 in 1840.
How does Bulgaria rank for varieties of democracy?: Bulgaria ranks 72nd out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is varieties of democracy rising or falling in Bulgaria?: Over the last ten years it is down 10.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Bulgaria data come from?: The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Varieties of democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 237 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Varieties of democracy in Bulgaria. Statizoid, drawing on V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 22 September 2026, from https://social-development.statizoid.com/stat/varieties-democracy-vdem/bulgaria/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://social-development.statizoid.com/stat/varieties-democracy-vdem/bulgaria/">Varieties of democracy in Bulgaria</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator: Varieties of democracy
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 176 places, 29,649 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed: 18 September 2026

Central estimate of the extent to which political leaders are elected under comprehensive suffrage in free and fair elections, and freedoms of association and expression are guaranteed.