Despite a certain decline, the proportion of the population at risk of poverty or social exclusion remains high in Bulgaria, and income inequalities are significant, reads a working document of the European Commission on the social convergence of EU Member States, quoted by BTA. In 2023, the share of Bulgarians at risk of poverty was 30%, compared to 32.2% in 2022, while 21.6% of the EU population was at risk of poverty or social exclusion.

In 2023, the income of the richest 20% of the Bulgarian population was 6.6 times higher than that of the poorest 20%, whereas in 2022 the richest 20% of the population earned 7.3 times more than the poorest 20%. In the EU, the richest 20% earned 4.7 times more than the poorest 20%.