Compare
Bulgaria vs Serbia
How Bulgaria and Serbia compare on 38 measures, from 1789 to 2025. The main differences:
- Life expectancy · In 2023, Serbia was higher: 76.8 years against 75.6 years
- GDP per person · In 2025, Bulgaria was higher: $10,450 against $8,804
- Population · In 2023, Bulgaria was higher: 6.8 million people against 6.77 million people
- Military spending · In 2025, Serbia was higher: 2.76% of GDP against 2.01% of GDP
- Electoral democracy · In 2025, Bulgaria was higher: 0.6 of 1 against 0.3 of 1
Every measure
Health
- Life expectancyBulgaria: 75.6 years in 2023Serbia: 76.8 years in 2023
- Child mortalityBulgaria: 0.6 per 100 live births in 2024Serbia: 0.5 per 100 live births in 2024
- Infant mortalityBulgaria: 4.7 per 1,000 live births in 2023Serbia: 4.2 per 1,000 live births in 2023
- Safe drinking waterBulgaria: 95.7% in 2022Serbia: 75.1% in 2022
- DepressionBulgaria: 2.54% in 2017Serbia: 2.57% in 2017
- Suicide rateBulgaria: 9.5 per 100,000 people in 2017Serbia: 12.7 per 100,000 people in 2017
People
- PopulationBulgaria: 6.8 million people in 2023Serbia: 6.77 million people in 2023
- Population growthBulgaria: -0.52% a year in 2023Serbia: -0.44% a year in 2023
- Fertility rateBulgaria: 1.75 births per woman in 2023Serbia: 1.5 births per woman in 2023
- Urban populationBulgaria: 74.2% in 2025Serbia: 62.6% in 2025
- Median ageBulgaria: 44.3 years in 2023Serbia: 43.9 years in 2023
- People aged 65 and overBulgaria: 21.8% in 2023Serbia: 22.3% in 2023
- Net migration rateBulgaria: 0.8 per 1,000 people in 2023Serbia: 0.6 per 1,000 people in 2023
Economy
Education
Politics
Conflict
Military
- Military spendingBulgaria: 2.01% of GDP in 2025Serbia: 2.76% of GDP in 2025
- Military spending in US dollarsBulgaria: $2.4B in 2025Serbia: $2.55B in 2025
- Military spending per personBulgaria: $384 in 2025Serbia: $414 in 2025
- Military share of state spendingBulgaria: 5.2% of government spending in 2025Serbia: 6.4% of government spending in 2025
- Armed forces personnelBulgaria: 37,000 people in 2020Serbia: 32,000 people in 2020
- National powerBulgaria: 0.09% of world capability in 2022Serbia: 0.09% of world capability in 2022
- Armed forces, share of workersBulgaria: 1.18% of the labour force in 2020Serbia: 1.01% of the labour force in 2020
- Arms importsBulgaria: 540 million TIV in 2025Serbia: 146 million TIV in 2025
- Arms exportsBulgaria: 33 million TIV in 2024Serbia: 39 million TIV in 2025
Climate
Technology and environment
Each country on its own
Good to know
- Sources: UN, Gapminder and UN IGME, WHO/UNICEF, IHME, World Bank, IMF, UNESCO, Our World in Data, V-Dem, UCDP, SIPRI, IISS, Correlates of War, ERA5, CMIP6, ITU and FAO. Each measure’s page names its own and what it counts.
- Values are drawn on today’s borders. Years without a published value are left empty, never filled in.
How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Countries through time