Overview of Bulgaria as a sourcing destination

Bulgaria continues to rank highest among the global services locations in Southeast Europe (SEE), outscoring all rival offshoring destinations. According to the 2019 edition of management consulting firm A.T. Kearney’s Global Services Location Index, Bulgaria went down two spots to the 17th place but maintained its leading position in SEE. The index ranks the 50 most attractive destinations for business services worldwide based on criteria such as financial attractiveness, people and skills availability, business environment and digital resonance in each country. Bulgaria’s best performance was on the financial attractiveness criterion. The country is also highly competitive globally in terms of business environment.

However, it faces serious challenges in the areas of people availability and digital skills.

Additionally, the country has a well-developed telecommunications infrastructure, with Internet connection speed being among the fastest in SEE. Information security and privacy regulations are in accordance with existing EU legislation. Bulgaria offers well-educated and highly skilled professionals in the areas of information technology and languages, but in order to match the demand for labor force and keep up with the sourcing sector development on a European level, the talent pool with suitable skills needs to be expanded.