Market Research Companies in Bulgaria

Key figures for researchers

Population

6,437,360 (31 December 2024)¹

Census population

6,519,789 (census of 7 September 2021), 11.5% fewer than in 2011²

Emigration

about 344,000 people, 40.7% of the population decline between 2011 and 2021, due to negative external migration²

Aged 65 and over

24.0% of the population; average age 45.3 years (end of 2024)¹

Urban population

73.7% of residents (end of 2024)¹

Ethnic groups

Bulgarian 84.6%, Turkish 8.4%, Roma 266,720 people or 4.4% (2021 census, people who answered)⁴

Mother tongue

Bulgarian 85.3%, Turkish 8.7%, Romani 3.9% (2021 census, people who answered)⁴

Internet use

86.5% of people aged 16–74 use it at least weekly; 7.0% have never used it (2025)⁵

Basic digital skills

38% of people aged 16–74, vs 60% in the EU (2025)⁶

GDP per capita

EUR 16,265 (2024)⁷

Research guide

Research landscape

Bulgaria has an established research industry serving local clients and international studies covering South-East Europe. Full-service agencies work alongside specialist qualitative, B2B, healthcare and social research firms, telephone centres, field networks and online panel providers.

Sofia is the main business centre: the South-West region around the capital produced 50.7% of Bulgaria’s GDP in 2024. Plovdiv (635,630 people in its district at the end of 2024) and Varna (437,521 in its district) are other common locations for city samples and focus groups. Ask your agency which professional code it follows, such as the ICC/ESOMAR International Code.

Languages and fieldwork

Questionnaires are run in Bulgarian, written in the Cyrillic alphabet, and should be translated by native speakers and tested before fieldwork. In the 2021 census, 85.3% of people who answered the question gave Bulgarian as their mother tongue, 8.7% Turkish and 3.9% Romani. For studies that must include these groups, check whether a Turkish version of the questionnaire or bilingual interviewers are needed.

Among people who answered the census question on ethnic group, 84.6% identified as Bulgarian, 8.4% as Turkish and 4.4% as Roma (266,720 people). Reaching Roma communities usually needs face-to-face fieldwork and experienced local interviewers. A national sample should be stratified by district and by urban and rural areas: 73.7% of residents live in towns, and the Sofia capital district alone had 1,274,290 residents at the 2021 census.

Which methods work

Connectivity is high: in 2025, 86.5% of people aged 16–74 used the internet at least once a week and 92.8% of households had internet access at home (94.9% in towns, 86.2% in rural areas). Online surveys using access panels are widely used for urban consumer targets, and mobile-friendly questionnaires are essential.

Online samples can under-represent older and less connected people: 24.0% of the population is aged 65 and over, only 59.7% of people aged 65–74 use the internet regularly, and 7.0% of people aged 16–74 have never used it. In 2025, 38% of Bulgarians aged 16–74 had at least basic digital skills, one of the lowest shares in the EU (EU: 60%), so keep online questionnaires short and simple. Telephone (CATI) and face-to-face interviews remain used for national representative samples, rural areas, older people and B2B decision makers.

Timing

Official holidays are 1 January, 3 March (national holiday), Orthodox Easter (Good Friday to Easter Monday), 1 May, 6 May, 24 May, 6 September, 22 September and 24 to 26 December; 1 November is a day off for schools and universities. When a holiday falls on a weekend, the following working day or days are off. Easter follows the Orthodox calendar: in 2027, Easter Sunday falls on 2 May, so the Easter holidays run into 1 May and are followed by 6 May. Avoid this period and the Christmas and New Year break.

In the 2026/2027 school year, schools close from 24 December 2026 to 3 January 2027 and for spring from 3 to 11 April 2027; classes end between 2 June and 2 July depending on the grade, and summer holidays run to 31 August. Summer is also the peak season on the Black Sea coast: in August 2025, Burgas district recorded 3,185,626 nights in accommodation establishments and Varna district 1,433,910, out of 6,421,976 nationally. Coastal city samples in July and August include many visitors, and residents and business targets are harder to reach.

Data protection

Personal data is governed by the GDPR and the Bulgarian Personal Data Protection Act (State Gazette No. 1 of 2002, amended by State Gazette No. 17 of 2019). The supervisory authority is the Commission for Personal Data Protection (CPDP), a permanent independent body based in Sofia.

The Act allows some data subject rights to be limited when data is processed for statistical purposes, and data collected for another purpose may be processed for scientific research or statistics with the safeguards of article 89 of the GDPR. When processing is based on consent, consent for children under 14 must be given by a parent or guardian. Online services must not use the personal identification number (EGN) as the only means of identifying users: avoid collecting it in surveys. Ask your agency how respondents are informed, where the data is hosted and how recordings or video will be shared with you.

Working with a local agency

• Share a clear brief: objectives, target, sample size, districts and city sizes, method, languages and deadline.
• Ask whether a Turkish version of the questionnaire or bilingual interviewers are needed, and how Roma respondents will be reached if they are in your target.
• Ask which panels or fieldwork suppliers will be used, and how quotas by district, urban/rural area, age and gender are set and weighted.
• Check fieldwork dates against official holidays, Orthodox Easter, school holidays and the summer season on the coast.
• Quote budgets and incentives in euro: Bulgaria joined the euro area on 1 January 2026, and the lev stopped being legal tender on 1 February 2026.
• Agree in writing who is controller and who is processor of the personal data, how parental consent is collected for under-14s, and the retention period.
• Compare several proposals: you can send one request to up to 5 companies from this page.