Country Profile: Bulgaria

• Country Size: 110,372 km²
• Citizens: 6,445,481 (2024) | Tendency: falling
• GDP per capita: 17,412.4 $ (2024) | Tendency: rising
• EU Innovation Scoreboard: Emerging Innovator (2025) | 51.6%

Dedicated design policy status

No

Design in other policy agendas

• Industrial / Development strategy – National Development Programme Bulgaria 2030 briefly mentions design in the context of circular and low-carbon economy [Mentioned]
• Circular economy strategy – Strategy for the Transition to a Circular Economy 2022–2027 refers to “product design” but no related actions included [Mentioned]
• CCI, innovation, digital, architecture strategies – No strategies or references to design were identified. [Overlooked]

Observations

Design presence in Bulgaria’s policy landscape is marginal and fragmented. References to design remain baseline, limited to sustainability contexts without clear mechanisms or follow-through in action plans. This positions Bulgaria closer to the Mentioned end of the Design Policy Spectrum, indicating awareness but little evidence of strategic intent or institutional support.