Payments and e-commerce in Bulgaria

Discover how Bulgarians like to shop and pay online

Bulgaria

General Information

Population 6.9 m
Population 15 + 5.9 m
Online population 4.7 m
Area 110,994 km²
Currency BGN
GDP 77.9 bn $US
GDP per capita 11,295 $US

Card-based payments
Cash-based payments
Bank transfer
Wallets
Other

[{"label":"Card-based payments","value":"15"},{"label":"Cash-based payments","value":"67"},{"label":"Bank transfer","value":"1"},{"label":"Wallets","value":"15"},{"label":"Other","value":"2"}]

Banked population

Bulgaria 77%
Eastern Europe & the CIS 72%
World 67%

Credit card penetration

Bulgaria 16%
Eastern Europe & the CIS 22%
World 19%

Internet penetration

Bulgaria 68%
Eastern Europe & the CIS 76%
World 62%

Smartphone penetration

Bulgaria 63%
Eastern Europe & the CIS 62%
World 70%

Bulgarians are turning to contactless payment methods in greater numbers, a survey by Paysafe found. 45% of Bulgarians shop using a debit card and 24% prefer a digital wallet. Cash is still being used, 52% said that they use cash less now than before the Pandemic.

olx.bg was the most popular e-commerce store in Bulgaria in July 2022, followed by bazar.bg.

The Bulgarian government are contemplating introducing a government backed cryptocurrency payment initiative.

Future e-commerce trends (2021-2026)

B2C e-commerce ($US billion)

2022 1.6

2023 1.9

2024 2.3

2025 2.6

2026 3.0

E-commerce spending per capita ($US)

2022 235

2023 287

2024 341

2025 396

2026 452

E-commerce spending as % of GDP

2022 2.1%

2023 2.4%

2024 2.6%

2025 2.9%

2026 3.1%

Bulgaria

The E-Commerce Market

Top e-commerce segments

Fashion: 34%
Electronics & Media: 30%
Toys, Hobby & DIY: 15%
Furniture & Appliances: 13%
Food & Personal Care: 8%

Cross-border e-commerce

Cross-border proportion of total e-commerce – 15%
Value of cross-border e-commerce – 0.2 bn $US
Online shoppers who have shopped cross-border – 36%

Top 3 cross-border shopping origin markets

Germany
China
Russia

B2C e-commerce growth 20->21

Bulgaria 17.6%

E-commerce % of total retail

Bulgaria 7%
Eastern Europe & the CIS 12%
World 20%

E-commerce completed on a mobile device

Bulgaria 42%
Eastern Europe & the CIS 39%
World 53%

The Credit Card Split

Visa
Mastercard
Local Schemes

[{"label":"Visa","value":"41"},{"label":"Mastercard","value":"56"},{"label":"Local Schemes","value":"3"}]

E-commerce market size 1.3 bn $US
E-commerce spending per capita 189 $US
E-commerce spending as % of GDP 1.8%

_{The information on our Insights pages has been compiled by us in cooperation with Datamatics and Wright & Brown. The data shown is partially owned by us and partially owned by GlobalData. © 2021 by PPRO Financial Ltd. No data and information can be used for any further publication without the explicit approval of PPRO.}

Bulgaria

Local Payment Methods

BitPay

Type Cryptocurrency Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Hyperwallet

Type Bank transfer, Gift card, Prepaid voucher Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High PayPal

Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High Paysafecard

Type Prepaid voucher Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Paysera

Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High SEPA Direct Debit

Type Bank transfer Regions Eastern Europe & the CIS, Western & Central Europe Market relevance High Skrill

Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High Trustly

Type Bank transfer Regions Eastern Europe & the CIS, North America + 1 Market relevance High TrustPay

Type Bank transfer Regions Eastern Europe & the CIS, Western & Central Europe Allied Wallet