NUTS-3 BG341 · Bulgaria
Бургас
Burgas
Бургас generates €4.6bn of GDP across 388.9k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 30.4/100 sits in the lower tier of EU regions, led by economic growth and economic scale. Its economy has grown +10.4%/yr over five years and accelerating, with the employment rate up 2.4pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for clean environment (40th EU percentile) and weakest for health (2th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Persistent laggard10 → 1 EU percentile since 1995 (-9 ranks)
Yearly EU-wide percentile of real GDP per head (ARDECO regional accounts, constant 2020 prices, derived over population). 50 = the EU median that year; percentiles are scale-free, so decades are directly comparable. See the backtest for what long-run prosperity ranks do — and don't — anticipate.
Mandate pillar profile · EU percentiles (screener dimensions)
Cost advantage100
Growth momentum70
Energy cost65
Industrial base53
Demographic outlook46
Freight intensity41
Resilience36
Connectivity35
Labour market25
Talent & skills21
Quality of life21
Digital readiness14
Economic base7
Governance0
Each bar is this region's EU percentile on a screener pillar (higher = better for siting; cost & energy are inverted so cheap scores high). These are the exact weights you tune in the Site Screener.
Opportunity Index · composite triage (experimental)
30.4
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth69.8
Livability20.6
Market access4
Economic scale27
Equal-weighted mean of four EU-percentile pillars (deliberately orthogonal: growth=trend, livability=quality, market=distance-weighted demand proxy, scale=absolute GDP). Experimental — a screening triage, not investment advice.
Resilience Index · downside / risk lens (experimental)
36.3
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability2
Labour stability21
Diversification45
Demographic stability77
Inverse of GDP-growth & unemployment volatility (since 2008, incl. 2009/2020 shocks), economic diversification (inverse HHI) and population stability — each EU-percentile-ranked. Higher withstands downturns better. Experimental.
Connectivity Index · transit · air · market access (experimental)
35
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density22
Airport access79
Market access4
Public-transport stop density, proximity to a major airport, and gravity access to surrounding economic mass — each EU-percentile-ranked. Higher = better-connected. Experimental.
Talent & Human Capital Index · skills base (experimental)
21.3
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary26
Lifelong learning3
Knowledge workers37
Scientists & engineers19
Young tertiary attainment (25–34), adult lifelong learning, knowledge-worker share and scientists & engineers — each EU-percentile-ranked. Higher = deeper talent pool. Experimental.
Quality of Life · composite (experimental)
20.6
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy3.5
Jobs36.5
Education17
Health2
Safety27
Connectivity18
Environment40
Equal-weighted percentile across 6 pillars vs all EU NUTS-3; lower-is-better indicators (crime, unemployment, mortality) inverted. Experimental — regional screening only.
Growth momentum · trend analytics
69.8
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+10.4%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+9.0%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+1.4 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
+0.2 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+0.6%
CAGR
Employment rate
+2.4 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
+0.1 pp
5-yr change
Compound annual growth to the latest available year vs all EU NUTS-3; GDP is nominal EUR (“vs country avg” removes most national inflation). Screening signal, not a forecast.
Economic structure · gross value added by sector
Dominant: Trade · transport · ICT · 33%Diversified · HHI 2281
Agriculture 2.6%Industry 18.2%Construction 5.8%Trade · transport · ICT 33%Finance · real estate · prof. 18.9%Public · health · education 21.5%
Share of total GVA (latest year). HHI = sum of squared sector shares ×10,000; higher means a more concentrated, single-sector-dependent economy (more cyclicality risk).
Trends · 2009–2024
GDP (current prices)
€4,615M2024
6.7% 1y 10.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 27
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€2,005M2025
2.0% 1y 3.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 10
Population
388,9192025
1.2% 1y 0.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 69
Unemployment rate
4.6%2025
4.2% 1y 0.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 53
Employment
197,4002023
5.9% 1y 0.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 73
Productivity / employee
€29,0652025
8.4% 1y 17.3% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 3
Gross value added
€4,026M2024
6.2% 1y 10.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 26
All indicators · 88 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€4,026M
2024 · EU pctl 26
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€106M
2024 · EU pctl 39
GVA — industry (B–E)
€733M
2024 · EU pctl 23
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€715M
2024 · EU pctl 31
GVA — construction (F)
€232M
2024 · EU pctl 24
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€1,330M
2024 · EU pctl 46
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€6,200
2023 · EU pctl 0 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
19,300 PPS
2024 · EU pctl 7
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€11,900
2024 · EU pctl 3
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€1,872M
2023 · EU pctl 4 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€382M
2023 · EU pctl 8 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€4,209M
2023 · EU pctl 5 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€526M
2024 · EU pctl 33
GVA — information & communication (J)
€76M
2024 · EU pctl 37
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€760M
2024 · EU pctl 25
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€865M
2024 · EU pctl 26
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€2,005M
2025 · EU pctl 10
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€29,065
2025 · EU pctl 3
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€859M
2025 · EU pctl 21
Labour market
Employment, total persons
197,400
2023 · EU pctl 73
Self-employed persons
64,500
2023 · EU pctl 92
Employment in manufacturing (C)
20,420
2023 · EU pctl 56
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
72.5%
2025 · EU pctl 20 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
16.3%
2025 · EU pctl 58 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
4.6%
2025 · EU pctl 53
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
181,300
2025 · EU pctl 68
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
28,984
2023 · EU pctl 72
Enterprise births
3,487
2023 · EU pctl 77
Enterprise deaths
5,187
2023 · EU pctl 89
3-year enterprise survival rate
5.1%
2023 · EU pctl 68
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP
0.3%
2023 · EU pctl 2 · NUTS-2 src
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
2.4%
2025 · EU pctl 10 · NUTS-2 src
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE)
0.4%
2023 · EU pctl 5 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
30.9%
2025 · EU pctl 32 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
33.5%
2025 · EU pctl 26 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
4.3%
2025 · EU pctl 3 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
21.4%
2025 · EU pctl 37 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
6.4%
2025 · EU pctl 19 · NUTS-2 src
Digital
Households with internet access
91.6%
2025 · EU pctl 14 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
9,905,089
2024 · EU pctl 94
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
450 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 11 · NUTS-2 src
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
88
CURRENT · EU pctl 23
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
9,740 kt
2025 · EU pctl 62
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
23
CURRENT · EU pctl 22
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²)
11 km/1000km²
2024 · EU pctl 23 · NUTS-2 src
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
28
CURRENT · EU pctl 21
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
1
CURRENT · EU pctl 15
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
242,905
2025 · EU pctl 69
Population aged 65+
89,301
2025 · EU pctl 69
Population aged under 15
56,713
2025 · EU pctl 70
Median age of population
46.9 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 57
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
36.8%
2025 · EU pctl 51
Crude rate of total population change
11.6 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 93
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
17.0 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 96
Crude birth rate
7.9 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 53
Crude death rate
13.3 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 75
Live births
3,037
2024 · EU pctl 71
Deaths
5,152
2024 · EU pctl 75
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
60.1%
2025 · EU pctl 57
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.69
2024 · EU pctl 94
Population density (persons per km²)
51 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 17
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
326,441
2100 · EU pctl 68
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants
797 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 95 · NUTS-2 src
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
2,099 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 98 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
215 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 30 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
3.1 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 98
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
14.1 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 34
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
26.8 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 4
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
466 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 29
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
79 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 92 · NUTS-2 src
Governance & institutions
Government effectiveness, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
-0.07
2022 · EU pctl 0
Regulatory quality, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.25
2022 · EU pctl 0
Rule of law, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
-0.10
2022 · EU pctl 0
Control of corruption, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
-0.14
2022 · EU pctl 0
Political stability & absence of violence, WGI score (country)
0.33
2022 · EU pctl 22
Energy
Industrial electricity price, 2-20 GWh band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.135/kWh
2025-S2 · EU pctl 35
Industrial gas price, 10-100k GJ band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.041/kWh
2025-S2 · EU pctl 8
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
11 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 6
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
39 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 87
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
38 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 29
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
6 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 70
Environment
NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) annual mean concentration — a traffic / combustion pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
14
2024 · EU pctl 60
O3 (ground-level ozone) annual mean concentration — a summer-smog pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data).
56
2024 · EU pctl 63
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
24.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 45
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
0.2%
2021 · EU pctl 8
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Bulgaria regions