Bulgaria Ranks 47th in Economic Freedom Index and 38th in Forbes’ Best Countries for Business, editions 2017

Bulgaria ranks higher than previous years in two 2017 index editions – The Heritage Foundation’s Economic Freedom Index and Best Countries for Business by Forbes. Bulgaria ranked 47th in Economic Freedom Index (up from 60th place) in 2016, and 38th (up from 45th) in Forbes.

Bulgaria falls into the group of moderately free economic countries in Economic Freedom Index together with Cyprus, Montenegro, Turkey, Albania, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the analysis for Bulgaria the foundation reported that competitive flat tax and the system of open trade, supported by a relatively effective regulatory frame, encourages private sector development, while the financial sector shows relatively high levels of durability. The management of public finances is also at a satisfactory level and the public debt is still among the lowest in the region, while the budget deficit continues to decline.

However, “Heritage” has made several criticisms with respect to insufficient institutional reforms which are especially necessary in judicial effectiveness and government integrity.

The index covers 10 freedoms – from property rights to entrepreneurship – in 186 countries, through 12 quantitative and qualitative factors, grouped into four broad categories: Rule of law, Government size, Regulatory efficiency and Open markets. Bulgaria ranks relatively higher in terms of the Government size category, particularly in terms of the Tax burden and Fiscal health criteria. In terms of the Regulatory efficiency category, launching a business has become less time-consuming, and licensing requirements have been eased.

In Forbes annual list of best 139 countries for business 2017, Bulgaria climbed up 7 positions higher, up to 38th in the list. Sweden topped the list this year, with New Zealand, Hong Kong and Ireland close behind. In the first 50 countries 14 countries from the CEE region are mentioned, with the first five: Estonia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Latvia and Poland. The first 14 CEE countries are as follows: Estonia: 13, Lithuania: 15, Slovenia: 20, Latvia: 25, Poland: 31, Czech Republic: 34, Macedonia: 35, Bulgaria: 38, Slovakia: 40, Hungary: 41, Georgia: 43, Romania: 45, Croatia: 46, Montenegro: 50.

Forbes evaluated 11 business environment factors when compiling the list such as  property rights, innovation, taxes, technology, corruption, freedom (personal, trade and monetary), bureaucracy, investor protection and stock market performance.

The complete list is available here: http://www.forbes.com/best-countries-for-business/list/3/#tab:overall