Share of plastic waste exports in Bulgaria
Bulgaria: Share of plastic waste exports was 0.5% in 2024. ◆ Volatile
Share of plastic waste exports in Bulgaria, 1996–2024
Source: United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for share of plastic waste exports in Bulgaria is 0.5%, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 19 years on record.
The figure is up 567.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of plastic waste exports in Bulgaria peaked at 0.5% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 0.0%, in 2023.
That places Bulgaria 33rd out of 162 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Share of plastic waste exports in Bulgaria, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 0.1% | — |
| 2001 | 0.0% | -96.9% |
| 2005 | 0.1% | +2423.0% |
| 2007 | 0.1% | -23.1% |
| 2010 | 0.1% | +22.9% |
| 2011 | 0.1% | +6.0% |
| 2012 | 0.1% | +5.7% |
| 2013 | 0.1% | -16.2% |
| 2014 | 0.1% | +1.9% |
| 2015 | 0.1% | -8.4% |
| 2016 | 0.1% | +19.0% |
| 2017 | 0.1% | +82.2% |
| 2018 | 0.2% | +24.4% |
| 2019 | 0.2% | +8.9% |
| 2020 | 0.2% | +5.4% |
| 2021 | 0.4% | +77.3% |
| 2022 | 0.4% | +12.1% |
| 2023 | 0.0% | -100.0% |
| 2024 | 0.5% | — |
Bulgaria compared with similar countries
- Bulgaria's 0.5% is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.1%, 3.4× the median. (63 countries reporting)
- Bulgaria's 0.5% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 0.2%, 2.0× the median. (49 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of plastic waste exports in Bulgaria changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | +2423.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 1 |
| 2000s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 3 |
| 2010s | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.3% | 0.0% | 0.5% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Bulgaria
More environment data for Bulgaria
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -1.39 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -1.52 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.573 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 2.18 °C (2025)
- Wood-based panels — Production, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual -6.02 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate -0.7509 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of plastic waste exports in Bulgaria?
- Share of plastic waste exports in Bulgaria was 0.5% in 2024, according to United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of plastic waste exports recorded in Bulgaria?
- The highest recorded value was 0.5% in 2024.
- What is the lowest share of plastic waste exports recorded in Bulgaria?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.0% in 2023.
- How does Bulgaria rank for share of plastic waste exports?
- Bulgaria ranks 33rd out of 162 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of plastic waste exports rising or falling in Bulgaria?
- Over the last ten years it is up 567.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Bulgaria data come from?
- The figures come from United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of plastic waste exports. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 19 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Percentage of global plastic waste exports that a country accounts for.