Employment by status in Bulgaria

Bulgaria: Employment by status was 88.1% in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
88.1%
Change on year
up 0.1%
World rank
25th
of 186 countries
All-time high
89.3%
in 2020
All-time low
83.1%
in 1994
Years of data
34
1991–2024

Employment by status in Bulgaria, 1991–2024

0204060801991200720241991: 83.6 %1992: 83.4 %1993: 83.2 %1994: 83.1 %1995: 83.1 %1996: 83.3 %1997: 83.3 %1998: 83.4 %1999: 83.2 %2000: 83.1 %2001: 84.3 %2002: 84.4 %2003: 83.8 %2004: 83.9 %2005: 85.7 %2006: 86.9 %2007: 87.6 %2008: 87.7 %2009: 87.7 %2010: 87.2 %2011: 88 %2012: 88.4 %2013: 88.3 %2014: 87.3 %2015: 87.7 %2016: 88.4 %2017: 88.1 %2018: 88 %2019: 88.5 %2020: 89.3 %2021: 88.8 %2022: 88.4 %2023: 88 %2024: 88.1 %

Source: International Labour Organization (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.

Analysis

In 2024, employment by status in Bulgaria stood at 88.1%.

The figure is up 0.1% on the previous year and up 0.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, employment by status in Bulgaria peaked at 89.3% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 83.1%, in 1994.

That places Bulgaria 25th out of 186 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 34 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 83.3% 83.1% 83.6% 9
2000s 85.5% 83.1% 87.7% 10
2010s 88.0% 87.2% 88.5% 10
2020s 88.5% 88.0% 89.3% 5

Countries ranked near Bulgaria

  1. 22 Israel 88.6% compare
  2. 23 Lithuania 88.3% compare
  3. 24 Hungary 88.2% compare
  4. 26 Estonia 87.9% compare
  5. 27 Austria 87.8% compare
  6. 28 Finland 87.5% compare

See the full ranking of 186 places →

More work & labour data for Bulgaria

All data for Bulgaria →

Frequently asked questions

What is employment by status in Bulgaria?
Employment by status in Bulgaria was 88.1% in 2024, according to International Labour Organization (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest employment by status recorded in Bulgaria?
The highest recorded value was 89.3% in 2020.
What is the lowest employment by status recorded in Bulgaria?
The lowest recorded value was 83.1% in 1994.
How does Bulgaria rank for employment by status?
Bulgaria ranks 25th out of 186 countries with data for 2024.
Is employment by status rising or falling in Bulgaria?
Over the last ten years it is up 0.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Bulgaria data come from?
The figures come from International Labour Organization (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Employment by status. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 34 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Employment by status
Unit
%
Source
International Labour Organization (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
186 places, 6,257 data points, 1991–2024
Last refreshed

Share of people in employment working as employees, as a percentage of total employment.