The Center for the Study of Democracy is the official partner for Bulgaria of the IMD World Competitiveness Center, Switzerland. According to the Global Competitiveness Yearbook 2022 of the Institute for Management Development (IMD, Switzerland), in the last fifteen years the Bulgarian economy, pulled by the EU, has been slowly recovering, however it is far from having reached its full potential. In 2022, Bulgaria ranks 53rd out of 64 countries, demonstrating that the country has not moved in the ranking since 2021. The country marks deterioration of five positions compared to 2020, and fifteen positions compared to 2009.
Major challenges and opportunities for improving Bulgaria’s competitiveness in 2022
- Geopolitical disruption and rising inflation, driven by energy costs.
- Inconsistent energy and climate policies.
- Confrontation between the Executive and the Judiciary.
- Lack of credible anticorruption enforcement.
- Limited investment in R&D and innovation.