Informal employment rate in Bulgaria
Bulgaria: Informal employment rate was 3.58 in 2025. ▼ Falling
Informal employment rate in Bulgaria, 2014–2025
Source: International Labour Organization.
Analysis
Bulgaria recorded 3.58 for informal employment rate in 2025.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 13.7% on the previous year and down 47.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, informal employment rate in Bulgaria peaked at 7.79 in 2016 and was at its lowest, 3.48, in 2019.
That places Bulgaria 34th out of 47 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 12 years of available data.
Informal employment rate in Bulgaria, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 7.76 | — |
| 2015 | 6.86 | -11.7% |
| 2016 | 7.79 | +13.7% |
| 2017 | 3.91 | -49.9% |
| 2018 | 4.25 | +8.8% |
| 2019 | 3.48 | -18.3% |
| 2020 | 3.83 | +10.2% |
| 2021 | 6.45 | +68.4% |
| 2022 | 5.84 | -9.4% |
| 2023 | 6.3 | +7.9% |
| 2024 | 4.15 | -34.2% |
| 2025 | 3.58 | -13.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 5.67 | 3.48 | 7.79 | 6 |
| 2020s | 5.03 | 3.58 | 6.45 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Bulgaria
More work & labour data for Bulgaria
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Both sexes, annual -0.7248 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Male, annual growth -0.7055 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Female, annual growth -0.7441 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Rural population, annual growth rate -2.5 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Urban population, annual growth rate -0.5166 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Urban population 4,606 1000 No (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Rural population 817.52 1000 No (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Female 1,761 1000 No (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Male 1,770 1000 No (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Both sexes 3,531 1000 No (2100)
Frequently asked questions
- What is informal employment rate in Bulgaria?
- Informal employment rate in Bulgaria was 3.58 in 2025, according to International Labour Organization.
- What is the highest informal employment rate recorded in Bulgaria?
- The highest recorded value was 7.79 in 2016.
- What is the lowest informal employment rate recorded in Bulgaria?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.48 in 2019.
- How does Bulgaria rank for informal employment rate?
- Bulgaria ranks 34th out of 47 countries with data for 2025.
- Is informal employment rate rising or falling in Bulgaria?
- Over the last ten years it is down 47.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Bulgaria data come from?
- The figures come from International Labour Organization, published as part of Informal employment rate (current ILO definition - ICLS19). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 12 observations, free to reuse under ILO Terms of Use (attribution required).
About this data
With the aim of promoting international comparability, statistics presented on ILOSTAT are based on standard international definitions wherever feasible and may differ from official national figures. This series includes only countries for which the 19th ICLS definitions are applied. This harmonized series for informal employment is derived using the same set of criteria across countries to improve comparability. The criteria used are based on employment status, institutional sector, destination of production, bookkeeping, registration, social security contribution, places of work and size. For more information, refer to the Work Statistics -- 19th ICLS (WORK) database description.