Sofia is in the Top 10 of the cities with the best business climate in Europe according to a research of Emerging Europe. The report evaluates the business environment in 75 developing cities in Europe – capitals or cities with a population of more than 200 000 people.
A total of 31 cities from 16 countries ranked among the top 10 in seven different categories of the index. Sofia is placed 8th in the Brand category and 9th in Business Climate category joining the Polish city of Lublin.
The Polish capital Warsaw and the Czech capital Prague are leading the ranking according to their combined result in the seven categories.
Bulgaria is ranked 26th among 160 countries in the Global Peace Index 2019 produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace, London. Countries are listed in five groups according to their level of peacefulness: very high, high, medium, low and very low. Bulgaria is in the second group and its place in the ranking is close to the positions of countries like Germany, Belgium, Sweden, The Netherlands, Qatar, and Poland.
Our country is ranked 18th out of 36 countries in Europe. Top 3 of the most peaceful countries on the continent are Iceland, Portugal, and Austria.
Bulgaria is in the Top 20 of the best countries for families with children in the ranking of UNICEF. The research ranks the countries based on four national family-friendly policies in a total of 41 countries: duration of the paid maternity leave, paid leave for fathers, the number of children under 3 years old, attending preschool, and the number of children older than 3 years, attending preschool.
The most favourable conditions for childcare are provided in Sweden, Norway and Iceland. At the bottom of the list are Great Britain, Cyprus, Greece and Switzerland.
Bulgaria remains in the top 20 of the annual Global Services Location Index of the consulting company A.T. Kearney. The index comprises 50 countries and is calculated on the basis of four indicators – Financial attractiveness, People skills and availability, Business environment and Digital Resonance.
In 2015, our country was in the top ten but in recent years it has been constantly stepping back, mainly due to skills components, increase of taxes, insurance and regulation costs. Nevertheless, in general the business climate remains stable and our country is a competitive destination for outsourcing, retaining its leading position in the region before the Czech Republic, Romania and Poland. The country’s profile includes large investments in services outsourced by Coca-Cola European Partners and the World Bank.
Since the first edition of the index in 2004, the top three positions are held by India, China and Malaysia.