The gap that keeps widening
In 2025, Bulgarian enterprises use artificial intelligence at half the EU rate. What matters more than the gap itself is its direction.
The gap is not closing — it is widening
In 2021 the distance to the EU average was 4.36 percentage points. By 2025 it is 11.4. In a single year the EU added 6.47 points; Bulgaria 2.08.
Not a question of size
The convenient explanation is that the Bulgarian economy is made of small firms. The data refute it: even Bulgaria’s largest enterprises sit below the rate of medium-sized European ones.
The region is not destiny
Slovenia is above the EU average; Czechia and Slovakia lead too. Bulgaria is third from the bottom — only Poland and Romania rank lower.
Not because AI is useless
Among enterprises that ever considered AI, the leading barriers are missing expertise and legal uncertainty. “Not useful” is the smallest reason of all.
Employees are ahead of employers
Among Bulgarians aged 16–24 it reaches 49.98%. People already use these tools; their employers do not yet.
The problem is not an absence of technological assets but their limited diffusion. The priority is broad adoption — skills, legal clarity and access to data.
Source: Eurostat — isoc_eb_ai (AI use and barriers), isoc_ai_iaiu (individuals). Enterprises with 10 or more persons employed. Extracted 22 July 2026.