Year of entry to EU: 2007
Political system: Republic
Capital city: Sofia
Total area: 111 910 km²
Population: 7.6 million
Currency: lev
Location and Geography
Bulgaria is situated in south-eastern Europe. To the north along the Danube River it borders Romania, to the west the republics of Serbia and Macedonia and to the south it neighbours Greece and Turkey
Bulgaria sits at the crossroads of the major tourist routes between Eastern Europe, Western Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Middle East. It is blessed with stunning and diverse scenery and has more mineral water deposits per kilometer than any country in the world. Over 5 million tourists visited Bulgaria in 2009 and this figure is expected to double over the next decade.
Bulgaria has made impressive progress towards long-term stability and sustained growth. Fiscal consolidation reduced the overall fiscal deficit from 15.2 percent of GDP in 1996 to a balanced budget in 2003 and increasing fiscal surpluses since then. Prudent fiscal policy has supported a substantial reduction in public and publicly guaranteed debt — from over 100 percent of GDP in 1997 to below 16 percent in 2008. Average GDP growth exceeded 6 percent per year from 2004-08.
Manufacturing, finance, and lately construction and real estate have contributed most to GDP growth. These sectors were the recipients of the largest amounts of foreign direct investments (FDI) inflows which averaged $4.5 billion per year from 2003 to 2009.
Bulgaria now has amongst the lowest tax rates with a flat rate of income tax of 10% which is proving highly successful in Eastern Europe. Corporation tax is also only 10% and the transformation has been such that the World Bank recently ranked Bulgaria in the top 10 countries in the world most suitable for investment.
