Bulgaria’s Digital Paradox: There Are “Highways”, but No “Drivers” Prepared to Use Them

The European Commission’s new report on the Digital Decade of Member States (2026 Country Report) reveals a profound structural paradox for Bulgaria. While the country continues to rank among European leaders in terms of fiber-optic internet infrastructure and the rapid rollout of 5G networks, it remains at the bottom of the European Union in terms of actual use of these technologies.

The reason? A chronic and deepening shortage of digital skills among the population, which is becoming a barrier to the modernization of businesses and public services.

An Infrastructure Desert: Why Isn’t High-Speed Internet Driving Innovation?

Bulgaria has achieved an impressive 93.53% fiber-to-the-home (FTTP) coverage by 2025, leaving the EU average (74.13%) far behind. 5G coverage also reaches a remarkable 94.83%.

Against this backdrop, the major challenge is now shifting from network deployment to their effective use. For example, only 3% of consumers in the country have a subscription to super-fast internet with speeds exceeding 1 Gbps, as most people either do not see the added value in it or face financial constraints.

The main barrier, according to the report, is human capital. Bulgaria remains critically below the EU average in digital literacy: only 38.26% of Bulgarians (aged 16 – 74) possess at least basic digital skills (compared to an EU average of 60.4%). In rural areas, this percentage drops to an alarming 24.81%, and among people with low levels of education, to 14.43%. In terms of more advanced digital skills, Bulgaria ranks second-to-last in the EU.

Business Trapped in Analog Thinking

This acute skills shortage has a direct impact on the economy. Bulgarian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are lagging dramatically behind. Only 38.33% of SMEs in Bulgaria have a basic level of digital intensity (compared to an EU average of 71.39%). Businesses rank last in the EU in terms of social media use (40.82%) and show extremely poor results in e-commerce.

The process of adopting modern technologies is in its early stages:

• Only 15.74% of companies use cloud services (one of the biggest gaps compared to the EU average of 46.69%);
• Big data analysis is used by 27.06% of companies;
• Artificial intelligence (AI) is implemented by only 8.55% of businesses.

A 2025 study by the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), cited in the report, confirms that 40% of managers view the lack of digital skills among staff as the main obstacle to digitization. The situation is further complicated by the fact that Bulgaria has the lowest level of cybersecurity in the EU – only 31.28% of businesses use basic security measures (compared to an EU average of 56.85%), which exposes companies undergoing digital transformation to enormous risks.

There is also a problem with workforce training itself: although the share of employed ICT specialists (4.8%) is close to the European average, Bulgaria has “the lowest percentage of ICT graduates in the entire EU (just 4.7% of all graduates),” which threatens the future labor market, according to the report.

The State: Services for Businesses Are Available, but Services for Citizens and the Justice System Lag Behind

The digital divide is also strongly felt in the public sector. Bulgaria performs excellently in digital services for businesses, scoring 94.04 out of 100 points (above the EU average). But when it comes to services for citizens, the score drops to 71.08 points. Over the past 12 months, only 40.02% of Bulgarians have interacted online with government agencies – the second-lowest level in the EU (compared to an EU average of 76.03%).

The situation in the judicial system is particularly alarming. The digitization of judicial services is seriously lagging behind, as our country faces difficulties and delays in implementing IT solutions for the Cross-Border Judicial Exchange (JUDEX).

There is, however, a silver lining: the introduction of mandatory electronic health records has propelled Bulgaria forward in the “eHealth” sector with a score of 89.56 points, and the “eHealth” mobile app now has over 350,000 active users.

Horizons for Development: Where Are the Opportunities?

Despite the grim assessment, the European Commission’s report outlines significant financial and strategic levers that can transform this infrastructure advantage into an economic leap forward.

1. Billions from the Cohesion Policy and the Cohesion Fund

Bulgaria has established a massive financial framework to support digital transformation. The country is allocating nearly 21% of its total budget under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) – amounting to 1.2 billion euros – to digital projects. An additional 1.2 billion euros has been set aside under Cohesion Policy (11% of total cohesion funding).

Economic modeling by the European Commission forecasts that the overall impact of the digital measures under the RRP will generate direct benefits for our national economy amounting to 934 million euros.

2. Regional Megaprojects and the Black Sea as a Digital Bridge

Bulgaria is rapidly emerging on the map of international connectivity. A key project with long-term development potential is the “Kardesa” undersea cable system in the Black Sea, scheduled for completion in 2027. It will connect Bulgaria with Turkey, Georgia, and Ukraine, transforming our country into a regional ICT hub and offering an alternative, secure, high-capacity data route between Europe and Asia.

At the same time, the EU-funded Balkans Digital Gateway Works project (2025–2028) is already building high-capacity terrestrial and submarine infrastructure between Bulgaria, Greece, and Romania, which will integrate our networks between the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea and ensure digital resilience and security in the region.

3. The New Mecca for Digital Nomads

Following the official adoption of the euro and the country’s full accession to the Schengen Area in January 2026, Bulgaria took an important strategic step: the introduction of a special residency regime for digital nomads and remote workers from outside the EU. With its low cost of living, natural beauty, and widespread access to high-speed fiber-optic internet, the country is entering into direct and successful competition with established regional hubs such as Greece, Croatia, and Romania, attracting foreign digital talent.

The data from Brussels sends a clear signal: Bulgaria has well-developed communication “highways,” but lacks enough trained “drivers” to navigate them. If the more than 2 billion euros in funding from the National Digital Strategy and European funds are not urgently directed toward large-scale digital skills training—from schools through worker retraining to management in SMEs – the country risks remaining a perfectly connected but economically lagging digital island.

Translated with DeepL.