Bulgaria climbs to 11th place in Surfshark's global Digital Quality of Life (DQL) index for 2025, marking an improvement from 18th position the previous year. The index analyzes the digital well-being of countries across five main categories: affordability of fixed internet, internet quality, digital infrastructure, digital security, and artificial intelligence (AI).
Bulgaria reports the best results in terms of fixed internet affordability, with Bulgarians needing to work about 11 minutes per month to secure an internet connection. Mobile connectivity, however, remains expensive, requiring about 46 minutes of work per month.
Regarding internet quality, Bulgaria ranks 41st in the world. The average speed of fixed internet is 155 Mbps, and of mobile - 271 Mbps. Compared to Romania, mobile internet in Bulgaria is faster, but fixed internet is slower.
In the digital security category, Bulgaria occupies the 21st position, marking an improvement of one position. The country is prepared to counter cybercrimes, and as an EU member, it has legislation for data protection.
Despite the positive results, Bulgaria still faces challenges in digital infrastructure (60th place) and in the field of AI (49th place). Regarding readiness for AI implementation, the country is in 50th place. The USA tops the AI index.
The DQL index examines 121 countries, using open data from reputable sources.