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NCBNational Capability Benchmark
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Challenge the benchmark

Choose a score and give the benchmark a specific reason to reconsider it.

When you submit, the form attaches the current score and confidence for the country and capability you chose.

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Capability agenda

Bulgaria

Generated 2026-10-17

The frame includes 125 countries. Each dimension is scored from 0 to 100, with no overall ranking, and each score shows its confidence beside it. Read the known limits of the data before you quote a score.

Open the profile: indicators, values, years and sources

Where Bulgaria stands

DimensionScoreConfidenceTrend
Anticipation55.40.46+15.9 over 10 years using 2 indicators
Agency55.80.63no trend
Coordination83.10.48no trend
Trust60.60.54no trend
Learning32.60.54no trend
Experimentation32.20.41-5.2 over 10 years using 3 indicators
Adaptability80.60.62no trend
Building11.00.41+5 over 10 years using 2 indicators
Shared Purpose39.80.42+2 over 10 years using 2 indicators

Score

  • weakNear the floor of the frame. Check the confidence before reading anything into it.0 to 25
  • below middleIn the lower half of the frame.25 to 50
  • above middleIn the upper half of the frame.50 to 75
  • strongNear the top of the frame on this dimension.75 and above

Confidence

  • very thin0.00 to 0.25

    The score rests on one or two indicators. Do not quote it on its own.

  • thin0.25 to 0.45

    A minority of indicators, or evidence old enough to have moved. Read with care.

  • usable0.45 to 0.65

    Enough evidence to compare countries, with known holes.

  • good0.65 and above

    Most indicators observed, recent, from official or intergovernmental sources.

Capability over time

Select a dimension to see how Bulgariaโ€™s comparable evidence has moved over time. The vertical scale is the current comparison frame, from 0 to 100.

Dimension

Period

Capability position in the current frame0 to 100
02550751001996200120062011201620212026

Shared Purpose 1996 โ†’ 2026: 52.8 to 55.9 (+3.1) over 30 years using 2 indicators

Historical values use todayโ€™s frame from 0 to 100 and a matched basket of indicators. They show movement in the available evidence, not an overall development score. Dated agenda items appear on a separate timeline and do not change the score. A missing line means the evidence does not support a comparable trend for that dimension.

What to raise

These are the lowest scores with usable evidence. Thin evidence appears below.

Learning

32.60.54

How effectively does the country acquire, distribute, and update knowledge?

Uses 3 observed indicators. no trend.

Highest usable scores: Singapore 84.2, Norway 83.4, New Zealand 83.

Related deliveries in other countries: SkillsFuture Credit (Singapore); The public library system (Finland); CAPES, federal postgraduate funding (Brazil); Kartu Prakerja, a national lifelong-learning delivery system (Indonesia); Compte personnel de formation (France); Programa Qualifica and Portugal's adult-learning network (Portugal); Novas Oportunidades, and the qualification-policy interruption (Portugal); SWAYAM national online-course platform (India); SETAs and workplace-based learning delivery (South Africa); MEB public lifelong-learning network (Turkey); Kenya's adult education centres, and their halving (Kenya); Rwanda's adult literacy centres, and their decline (Rwanda); Integrated Functional Adult Education, and its erosion (Ethiopia); Instituto Tรฉcnico de Capacitaciรณn y Productividad (INTECAP) (Guatemala); INFOTEP national technical and vocational training (Dominican Republic); Campaรฑa Nacional de Alfabetizaciรณn (Cuba); VET FEE-HELP, and its abolition (Australia); Adult education allowance (aikuiskoulutustuki), and its abolition (Finland); INEFOP, the tripartite national training institute (Uruguay); Franquicia Tributaria SENCE, and its erosion (Chile); Employer and in-work training under Employment Insurance, and its erosion (South Korea); TESDA technical-vocational training at national scale (Philippines); INADEH national vocational training (Panama); Yo, sรญ puedo national literacy campaign and post-literacy programme (Bolivia); Project 1956 vocational training for rural workers (Vietnam); Bildungsprรคmie training voucher, and its end (Germany); Aufstiegs-BAfรถG, upgrading training support (Germany); Formaciรณn programada por las empresas (FUNDAE training credit) (Spain); Community Education and Training colleges, and their erosion (South Africa); SENA complementary training (formaciรณn complementaria) (Colombia); Vocational skills upgrading action, 2019-2021 (China); INA national vocational training, and its contraction (Costa Rica); Kunskapslyftet adult education initiative (Sweden); Springboard+ upskilling programme (Ireland); State-administered adult education under the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act, and its erosion (United States); STAP-budget training grant, abolished in 2024 (Netherlands); INEA adult basic education (Mexico); Hello Training, public vocational training (Japan); Educaรงรฃo de Jovens e Adultos (EJA), and its erosion (Brazil); Government-funded adult further education in England, and its erosion (United Kingdom); Educaciรณn Bรกsica Alternativa (EBA), and its erosion (Peru); Upper secondary education for adults in non-stationary study (Estonia); Department of Skill Development skill-upgrading training (Thailand); Adult literacy education under the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education (Nigeria); Skills Development under the Labour Market Development Agreements, and its 2024-25 funding cut (Canada); Instituto Nacional de Formaciรณn Profesional (INFOP) (Honduras); Ministry of Labour Vocational Training Division adult courses (Israel); Educaciรณn Permanente para personas jรณvenes y adultas (MEC) (Paraguay); National literacy campaigns, 2010-2015 (Haiti); County and city general secondary schools for adults (licea ogรณlnoksztaล‚cฤ…ce dla dorosล‚ych) (Poland); Kolej Komuniti part-time and lifelong-learning (Pembelajaran Sepanjang Hayat) courses (Malaysia); Fondo nuove competenze (Italy); National adult literacy projects of the Bureau of Non-Formal Education, and their erosion (Bangladesh); Functional Adult Literacy programme, and its decline (Uganda); Integrated Community-Based Adult Education (MEMKWA), and its decline (Tanzania); National Functional Literacy Programme, and its erosion (Ghana); Centres d'alphabรฉtisation, and their erosion (Cรดte d'Ivoire); Adult literacy centres financed through FONAENF, and their erosion (Burkina Faso); National Adult Literacy Programme (Malawi); Mauritius Institute of Training and Development part-time training (Mauritius); NAMCOL secondary education programme for out-of-school learners (Namibia); Alfabetizaรงรฃo e Educaรงรฃo de Adultos (public adult literacy and adult primary education), and its decline (Mozambique); Sistema Nacional de Formaรงรฃo Profissional under INEFOP (Angola); Institut National de Prรฉparation Professionnelle (INPP) (Democratic Republic of the Congo); AMS training measures (Schulungen) for jobseekers (Austria); Human Resource Development Authority (HRDA) subsidised training programmes (Cyprus); Arbejdsmarkedsuddannelser (AMU), adult vocational training courses, and their decline (Denmark); Vauฤeri za obrazovanje, training vouchers of the Croatian Employment Service (Croatia); Mฤcฤซbas pieauguลกajiem, the ESF training programme for employed adults 2017 to 2023 (Latvia); Grunnskoleopplรฆring for voksne, municipal primary and lower secondary education for adults (Norway); Zruฤnosti pre trh prรกce, retraining and training contributions of the labour offices (Slovakia); Upper secondary education for adults (srednjeลกolsko izobraลพevanje odraslih) (Slovenia); Public vocational training centres of the National Agency for Employment and Skills (Albania); ANOFM voucher-based vocational training for the unemployed (Moldova); ANOFM national vocational training plan, and its fall after 2023 (Romania); National Employment Service labour market training, and its 2025 non-delivery (Serbia); Programme national d'enseignement des adultes (national adult education programme) (Tunisia); Agence Nationale de Lutte contre l'Analphabetisme literacy and post-literacy programmes (Morocco); Federal project Sodeystvie zanyatosti (Employment Promotion) vocational training of adults (Russia); Short-term vocational training of the unemployed in monocentres and district vocational training centres (Uzbekistan); Self-Employment Program business training (Azerbaijan); HEART/NSTA Trust training enrolment (Jamaica); Enhanced Vocational Education and Training (EVENT II) short-term training (Nepal); Adult and community education at tertiary providers, and its halving (New Zealand); NCHD Adult Literacy Programme, and its collapse after 2013 (Pakistan); Youth Training and Employment Partnership Programme (YTEPP), and its shrinking enrolment (Trinidad and Tobago); Bildungskarenz with Weiterbildungsgeld, and its abolition (Austria); State Employment Service vocational training (Ukraine); Labour Office retraining (rekvalifikace) (Czechia); DYPA digital and green skills training for the unemployed (Greece); Individual learning accounts (Kursuok) (Lithuania); Non-day enrolment in vocational and technical schools (Hungary); Skills Enbek online vocational training platform (Kazakhstan); Vocational training of the unemployed under the State Programme Labour Market and Employment Promotion (Belarus); SESA vocational training and retraining programme for jobseekers (Georgia); Vocational training of the unemployed through the state employment service (Kyrgyzstan); Adult learning centres of the Agency of Labour and Employment (Tajikistan); Vocational Training Corporation continuing training (Jordan); Vocational Training Authority of Sri Lanka (Sri Lanka); Non-formal education in Zimbabwe's schools (Zimbabwe); Fonds Malgache de Formation Professionnelle (Madagascar); FAFPA informal economy training, and its erosion (Mali); National adult literacy classes (Egypt); Technical and Vocational Training Organization public centres (Iran); Government vocational and development training centres (Iraq); TEVET Fund training for MSMEs and the informal sector (Zambia); Flexible Open and Distance Education (FODE) secondary programme (Papua New Guinea).

Missing indicators: Adult learning participation.

What to measure first

The evidence is too thin to manage these dimensions confidently.

What to keep watching

These dimensions score at least 50 with usable evidence.

DimensionScoreConfidence
Coordination83.10.48
Adaptability80.60.62
Trust60.60.54
Agency55.80.63
Anticipation55.40.46

Missing data

18 requested indicators have no comparable dataset, and each one lowers confidence. A gap can become an indicator when a comparable series covers at least two countries.

DimensionMissing indicatorWhat it asks
AnticipationGovernment foresight capacityExistence, mandate and continuity of a national strategic foresight function.
AnticipationLong-horizon research commitmentsNew competitively awarded public research grants that run for five years or longer, as a share of all new competitive public research grants awarded in the year.
AgencyAdults doing digital tasksShare of adults who carried out a named digital task in the last three months, such as sending a message with an attached file, moving a file between devices or using a spreadsheet formula, counted one task at a time and never as a skill level.
CoordinationUniversity-industry collaborationIntensity of research collaboration between universities and firms.
CoordinationPublic-private collaborationFrequency and scale of joint public-private delivery of national objectives.
TrustTrust in public institutionsConfidence in national government, courts and civil service.
TrustCourt case clearance rateCivil and commercial cases resolved in a year as a share of cases filed in the same year.
LearningAdult learning participationShare of adults in formal or non-formal education and training in the last 12 months.
ExperimentationVenture dealsFirst venture capital rounds closed by companies based in the country in the year, per million people, counted by deal and never by amount.
ExperimentationFirms through regulatory sandboxesFirms admitted to, and firms completing, a regulatory sandbox or controlled trial regime in the year, per million people, summed across every regulator in the country.
ExperimentationUniversity spinoutsCompanies formed to commercialise university research, per million people.
AdaptabilityDisaster preparedness and recoveryDemonstrated capacity to prepare for and recover from major shocks.
AdaptabilityInstitutional responsivenessSpeed at which rules and public programmes are changed in response to new conditions.
BuildingLarge project deliveryCost and schedule performance of major public infrastructure projects.
BuildingFirm scale-up rateShare of young firms reaching significant employment or turnover thresholds.
Shared PurposeSense of national belongingReported identification with and attachment to the national community, as distinct from pride in the nation.
Shared PurposeVolunteeringShare of adults who volunteered time to an organisation in the last month.
Shared PurposePolitical polarisationDegree to which political differences run along a single hostile divide.

What the indicators miss about Bulgaria

Documented deliveries linked to missing indicators. They do not affect scores or confidence.

  • Employment Agency adult training, including the DI-GI digital skills vouchers (Learning)

    Bulgaria's Employment Agency (Agentsia po zaetostta) included more than 155,450 unemployed and employed adults in training in 2025, against just over 87,540 in 2024, with 97,911 people certified through digital skills vouchers financed under the national Recovery and Resilience Plan.

  • The 60/40 employment retention measure, 2020 to 2021 (Adaptability)

    Bulgaria's National Social Security Institute paid employers 60 percent of the wages and contributions of staff kept on during the COVID-19 emergency under Council of Ministers Decree No. 55 of 2020, starting with 68 employers and 1,065 employees on 15 April 2020, and by 4 March 2021 the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy reported BGN 884 million paid under the measure and 300,000 jobs kept.

  • Road Infrastructure Rehabilitation Project, and its cut after the 2009 budget squeeze (Building)

    Bulgaria's Road Infrastructure Agency rehabilitated national roads under a EUR144 million project approved in June 2007, but after budget cuts in 2010 cancelled three lots on about 87 km where works had not started, reducing the length from 450 km to 307 km, and closed in June 2013, two years late, at EUR97.1 million, 67 percent of the appraisal estimate.

  • Belene nuclear power plant, and its cancellation (Building)

    Bulgaria's state utility NEK ordered long-lead reactor equipment for the Belene nuclear plant from Atomstroyexport in 2008. The project was cancelled before any unit was completed, and on 6 December 2016 the Ministry of Energy transferred 601,617,133 euros to NEK so it could pay the damages awarded against it in ICC arbitration case 18086/GZ/MHM.

  • Operational Programme Environment 2014-2020, flood and landslide risk axis (Adaptability)

    The Ministry of Environment and Water, through Operational Programme Environment 2014-2020, funded 18 flood and landslide risk contracts, which by 18 October 2024 reported flood-protection measures benefiting more than 2,130,000 residents, 103 areas with prevented flood risk, six flood-preparedness centres, the BG-ALERT cell-broadcast warning system and a population early-warning system in 11 administrative regions.

  • Varna and Burgas airports concession (Coordination)

    Bulgaria's Ministry of Transport signed a concession on 10 September 2006 that gave Fraport Twin Star, a German-Bulgarian company 60 percent owned by Fraport, the operation of the state airports at Varna and Burgas, and the two airports served 3.7 million passengers in 2025.

  • Centres of Excellence and Centres of Competence (Coordination)

    Bulgaria's Operational Programme Science and Education for Smart Growth established 16 Centres of Excellence and Centres of Competence, led by universities and Bulgarian Academy of Sciences institutes, with 215 million euros of ERDF support, and by 2023 they reported 257 joint research projects with business against a target of 150.

Contribute

Fill a gap, file evidence or challenge an indicator at github.com/envisioning/national-capability-benchmark. The docs explain the method and decisions.