Despite Higher Wages, Over 12% of Employed Bulgarians Remain Below Poverty Line

Despite a noticeable rise in Bulgaria’s minimum wage in recent years, the number of employed individuals living below the poverty line continues to grow. Official documents accompanying the government’s 2026 poverty line decree indicate that the threshold will be set at 764 leva, up 19.7% from this year’s 638 leva.

Analysis of the data for 2024 shows that 12.1% of employed Bulgarians aged 18-64 are considered poor, marking a 0.4 percentage point increase from the previous year. Part-time workers face roughly three times the risk of poverty compared with those in full-time positions, while employed women have a 2.5 percentage point lower risk of falling into poverty than men. By comparison, in 2022, 10% of employed individuals in the same age group were living below the poverty line.

Educational attainment remains a key factor influencing the likelihood of working poverty. According to NSI statistics, individuals with little or no formal education are the most vulnerable, with 56.3% living in poverty. This risk declines significantly with higher education levels: those with secondary education are five times less likely to be poor, while the share of working poor among people with higher education is the lowest at 4.8%.

Last year, with a poverty threshold of 638 leva, 1.326 million people, or 20.6% of Bulgaria’s population, were living below the poverty line, underscoring the persistent challenge of working poverty despite economic gains.