About one in six people in Bulgaria, or 15.8%, could not afford a meal with meat every other day in 2025, according to new Eurostat data on living conditions in Europe. The EU average is 8.5%.

Only Romania, at 18.1%, has a higher share, making Bulgaria second in the EU. The figure is 15.1% in Hungary, 14.2% in Slovakia, 12.8% in Greece, 11.5% in Malta, 11.2% in France and 11.1% in Germany.

Bulgaria remains near the top of the list, but its share has fallen for 13 years in a row. It last rose in 2012, when just over half of Bulgarians, or 51.9%, could not afford meat every other day. It fell below 40% in 2014, to 39.5%, and below 30% in 2019, to 27.6%. In 2023 it dropped under 20% for the first time, to 19.9%, and in 2024 it stood at 18.7%.

Eurostat also looked at how many people cannot afford regular leisure activities. In 2025, 14.5% of Bulgarians were in this group, against an EU average of 12.1%. Bulgaria is sixth in the EU on this measure. The share is highest in Greece, at 27.3%, followed by Romania with 23.3%, Lithuania with 17.9%, Latvia with 16.2% and Hungary with 15.8%.

Bulgaria is also second in the EU for people who cannot afford home internet for personal use. In 2025, 5.9% of people in Bulgaria could not pay for it, down from 7% a year earlier. Romania has the highest share, at 6.2%, and Finland the lowest, at 0.1%. The EU average is 2%.