Bulgaria Achieves 92% Internet Coverage for Households

In 2024, 92.1% of households in Bulgaria have internet access, according to the National Statistical Institute (NSI). This marks an increase of 3.6 percentage points compared to the previous year. Urban households have a higher internet penetration rate of 94.7%, while in rural areas, it stands at 84.3%. Over the past decade, the urban-rural divide has significantly narrowed from 29.6 to 10.4 percentage points.

The South-West region boasts the highest internet penetration at 95.5%, while the South-East region lags at 88.6%. Households with children are more likely to have internet access, with 98.4% connected compared to 89.9% of those without children. The most common reason for the lack of internet access is insufficient digital skills, cited by 3.6% of households. Another 3.5% report no need for the internet, and 1.2% find it too expensive.

Among individuals aged 16 to 74, 81.9% use the internet daily or at least weekly for work or leisure. The share of people who have never used the internet has dropped to 9.3%. Students and individuals with higher education are the most frequent users, with 96.7% and 94.5%, respectively. Young adults aged 16–24 and 25–34 have the highest usage rates, at 93.9% and 95.4%. Internet usage among seniors aged 65–74 has more than doubled over the past five years. The primary use of the internet is for communication.

In 2024, 31.8% of individuals interact with public institutions and administrative bodies online, a 2.1 percentage point increase from the previous year. E-government services are most utilized by those with higher education (64.4%) and least by individuals with primary or lower education (6.1%). Usage is highest among people aged 35–44 (45.5%) and lowest among those aged 65–74 (12%). Women are slightly more active than men in using online public services, at 32.9% versus 30.6%. However, 19.9% of users report technical difficulties when accessing e-government services.

Online shopping has grown significantly, with 49.8% of users making purchases online in 2024, an increase of 18.9 percentage points. Younger people and those with higher education are the most active online shoppers. The South-West and North-Central regions see the highest rates of e-commerce activity, at 59.7% and 52.4%, respectively, while the South-East region has the lowest, at 39.3%.

Smart devices are widely used, with 50.8% of individuals utilizing internet-connected systems for personal purposes. This is most common among people with higher education (75.6%) and those aged 25–34 (69.1%). The most popular device is the smart TV, used by 45.1% of people, followed by smartwatches or fitness trackers, owned by 25.4%.

In the corporate sector, 96.4% of enterprises with 10 or more employees have internet access, and 89.2% have a fixed connection. Over half of these businesses (54.1%) have download speeds exceeding 100 Mbps, with larger enterprises (250+ employees) leading in high-speed access at 77.9%. The "Creation and distribution of information and creative products; telecommunications" sector is fully connected, while the "Hotels and restaurants" sector has a lower connectivity rate of 87.8%.

Portable devices with mobile internet are used for business purposes in 25.4% of enterprises. Overall, 43.4% of employees in businesses have internet access, with the highest usage in the "Creation and dissemination of information and creative products; telecommunications" sector, at 91.3%. Remote access to company resources is provided by 76.4% of companies, up 8.9 percentage points from 2022.

Work meetings held online are a growing trend, adopted by 32.4% of enterprises. This practice is most prevalent in the "Creation and dissemination of information and creative products; telecommunications" and "Professional activities and scientific research" sectors, at 84.8% and 69.1%, respectively. It is least common in the "Hotels and restaurants" sector, at 12.9%.

Artificial intelligence technologies are used by 6.5% of businesses, with the highest adoption rates among companies with 250 or more employees (20.2%). The most common applications include written language analysis (60.6%) and automation of work processes or decision-making (44.6%). AI adoption is particularly strong in the "Creation and dissemination of information and creative products; telecommunications" sector (33.9%) but minimal in construction (1.6%). Enterprises mainly use AI for marketing, sales (32.6%), and administrative management (31.4%).

E-commerce accounted for 7.9% of total turnover for 15.1% of enterprises in 2023. Nearly all businesses engaged in web sales cater to Bulgarian customers (97%), with 32.2% serving EU clients and 22.3% selling to other international markets. Over five years, the share of businesses involved in e-commerce has risen by 4.2 percentage points.

In 2024, 17.8% of enterprises employed staff dedicated to ICT system management or software development, with the highest concentration in the "Creation and dissemination of information and creative products; telecommunications" sector (72%). ICT security measures are implemented by 83.2% of enterprises, with secure passwords (78.8%) and data backups (54.6%) being the most common. Biometric authentication is the least used measure, adopted by just 9.5% of companies.

Source: National Statistical Institute (NSI)