site.btaFraser Institute Ranks Bulgaria 56th in World Economic Freedom for 2025

For 2025, Bulgaria was awarded a score of 7.13 out of 10, ranking 56th out of 165 countries, between Greece and Thailand, in the Annual Report on Economic Freedom of the World 2025 released by the Fraser Institute on September 25. Hong Kong and Singapore top the ranking, while Venezuela and Zimbabwe remain at the bottom. 

Bulgaria slightly improved its score after the pandemic decline but has not returned to the group of free countries, the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) said in the latest issue of its Infobusiness online bulletin.

The data, covering 2023, reflect the recovery of economies after the restrictions on freedoms imposed during the 2020-2022 pandemic. Before the pandemic, Bulgaria briefly joined the group of freer countries, around rank 40, but dropped out in 2020 and remained far from that group in the latest index.

The overall score is based on 45 indicators across five categories.

According to the BCCI, Bulgaria continues to perform worst in the area of Legal System and Property Rights, scoring lower than all other EU Member States. Comparable results are recorded by Albania, Argentina, and Kazakhstan. This category measures the rule of law, judicial independence, law enforcement, and protection of property rights.

Since the pandemic, Bulgaria has also fallen behind in the Size of Government category, which covers budget redistribution, transfers and subsidies, state ownership, and taxation. This country's only top score is for its flat tax, while its overall performance is comparable to that of Mongolia and Ethiopia.

In the Regulations category, Bulgaria shows mixed results. The country performs well in terms of relatively light credit market regulation but scores poorly due to extensive labour market rules (minimum wage, working hours, hiring and dismissal restrictions) and business regulations (bureaucracy, administrative impartiality). As a result, Bulgaria ranks alongside Gambia, Saudi Arabia, and Thailand in this category.

Monetary stability, safeguarded by the currency board, and the freedom of international trade, guaranteed by EU membership, remain Bulgaria’s strongest areas in the index, the BCCI noted. By contrast, in the other categories, shaped by current policies and the implementation of reforms, the country continues to score low, keeping its economic freedom limited.