Nearly half of Bulgaria's pensioners are at risk of poverty and social exclusion, as highlighted in the European Commission's pension adequacy report. Data for 2022 reveals that 45.5% of individuals aged 65 and older in the country face this concerning situation.

While this marks a slight improvement from 2021, when 45.7% of elderly citizens were at risk, the overall condition remains critical. Women are particularly affected, with more than half (52.8%) of women aged 65 and above at risk, compared to 34.5% of men.

Experts attribute the heightened risk for female pensioners to several factors, including lower wages throughout their working lives, fewer years of work experience, and career interruptions for child-rearing. These issues ultimately result in reduced pensions for women. Additionally, the longer life expectancy of women exacerbates the situation, as rising healthcare and medication costs further strain their financial resources.

Bulgaria ranks just below Estonia in terms of poverty risk among the elderly, where 53.1% of those over 65 are similarly at risk of poverty and social exclusion. Estonia experienced a significant decline in this metric, rising from 41.6% in 2021 to 53.1% in 2022.

Apart from Bulgaria and Estonia, only Latvia (42.6%) and Lithuania (41.4%) report over 40% of their elderly population at risk of poverty. In contrast, countries like Norway demonstrate a more favorable situation, with only 8.2% of those aged 65 and older living at risk of poverty, followed by Luxembourg at 11.3% and Slovakia at 11.9%.