A Commission staff working document published on 24 June 2026 as part of the Digital Decade 2026 country reports finds that Bulgaria has made progress on connectivity and digital public services but faces major gaps in digital skills, SME digitalisation, and advanced technology uptake. The report, issued by the Council as a cover note, includes eight specific recommendations for the country to meet 2030 targets.
Bulgaria's very high-capacity network (VHCN) coverage stands at 93.53%, above the EU average of 85.54%, and fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) reaches 93.53% (EU 74.13%). 5G coverage is 94.83%, slightly below the EU average of 96.79%. However, gigabit uptake remains very low at 2.92% of subscriptions compared to the EU average of 26.97%. Only 38.3% of SMEs have at least basic digital intensity, far below the EU average of 71.4%, placing Bulgaria among the lowest in the EU. Uptake of cloud (15.7%), AI (8.6%), and data analytics (27.1%) are all well below EU averages. Digital skills are also weak: only 38.3% of individuals have at least basic digital skills (EU 60.4%), and ICT specialists account for 4.8% of employment (EU 5.0%). Digital public services score 71.08 for citizens (EU 84.6) and 94.04 for businesses (EU 88.6), while access to electronic health records is slightly above the EU average at 89.6 (EU 86.5). Cybersecurity preparedness remains low, particularly among SMEs, despite transposition of the NIS2 directive.
Bulgaria set 12 of 14 possible national targets in its national roadmap, and 75% of 2025 trajectory points are on track. The total public budget allocated for digital transformation is EUR 597 million. The Commission recommends that Bulgaria strengthen basic digital skills, increase the number of ICT specialists, boost SME digitalisation and advanced technology uptake, accelerate adoption of AI, cloud, and data analytics, improve cybersecurity resilience, enhance digital public services and e-health, and foster gigabit demand and 5G deployment.
Bulgaria has invested successfully in connectivity infrastructure but has not translated this into widespread digital adoption by businesses and citizens. The main trade-off involves allocating additional public and private investment to skills and digitalisation programmes, which may require reallocating funds from other priorities. Stakeholders most affected include Bulgarian SMEs, which face compliance and competitiveness pressures; the Bulgarian government, which must design and fund new policies; ICT training providers, who may see increased demand; and telecom operators, who could benefit from measures to stimulate gigabit demand. The report is part of the broader State of the Digital Decade 2026 package, which will feed into the Commission's annual assessment and may lead to further recommendations or support mechanisms.