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Trade between Bulgaria and China

In 2024, Bulgaria exported $1.2 billion to China and imported $5.6 billion. Bulgaria ran a deficit of $4.4 billion with China, compared with a deficit of $683 million in 2019. China was Bulgaria’s 4th largest trading partner (7% of its trade), and Bulgaria was China’s 78th (0.1%).

Summary

Bulgaria → China
$1.2billion
China → Bulgaria
$5.6billion
Bulgaria’s balance
-$4.4billion

Balance

Bulgaria’s trade balance with China

Trade between Bulgaria and China grew 130.3-fold since 1995

USD billions (current). Bulgaria’s exports and imports; bars: its balance (green surplus, red deficit).

  • Exports 1.2
  • Imports 5.6
  • Balance -4.4

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearExportsImportsTrade balance
1995$20 million$32 million-$13 million
1996$44 million$40 million$4 million
1997$31 million$54 million-$22 million
1998$9 million$55 million-$46 million
1999$10 million$69 million-$59 million
2000$14 million$83 million-$70 million
2001$30 million$96 million-$67 million
2002$22 million$152 million-$130 million
2003$69 million$299 million-$230 million
2004$64 million$486 million-$422 million
2005$86 million$723 million-$637 million
2006$108 million$1.1 billion-$956 million
2007$161 million$1.6 billion-$1.4 billion
2008$229 million$2 billion-$1.8 billion
2009$197 million$1.3 billion-$1.1 billion
2010$311 million$674 million-$363 million
2011$482 million$1 billion-$544 million
2012$826 million$1 billion-$219 million
2013$986 million$1.1 billion-$91 million
2014$912 million$1.2 billion-$291 million
2015$762 million$1.1 billion-$347 million
2016$638 million$1.2 billion-$546 million
2017$938 million$1.3 billion-$394 million
2018$1.1 billion$1.6 billion-$515 million
2019$1.1 billion$1.8 billion-$683 million
2020$1.3 billion$1.8 billion-$479 million
2021$1.6 billion$2.6 billion-$945 million
2022$1.1 billion$3.5 billion-$2.4 billion
2023$1.5 billion$3 billion-$1.4 billion
2024$1.2 billion$5.6 billion-$4.4 billion

What they sell each other

What Bulgaria sells to China

The top 10 headings in 2024, with their share of the total.

  1. Copper ore$378 million · 32.1%
    260 thousand tonnes · China’s sources
  2. Precious metal ore$133 million · 11.3%
    43 thousand tonnes
  3. Meal from other oilseeds$79 million · 6.7%
    252 thousand tonnes
  4. Unroasted iron pyrites$51 million · 4.4%
    160 thousand tonnes
  5. Control panels$36 million · 3.1%
    151 tonnes
  6. Sunflower seeds$34 million · 2.9%
    40 thousand tonnes
  7. Refined copper$33 million · 2.8%
    3 thousand tonnes · Bulgaria’s destinations
  8. Microchips$32 million · 2.7%
    15 tonnes · China’s sources
  9. Lead ore$25 million · 2.1%
    15 thousand tonnes
  10. Sunflower, safflower and cottonseed oil$24 million · 2%
    21 thousand tonnes

What China sells to Bulgaria

The top 10 headings in 2024, with their share of the total.

  1. Cameras and broadcast equipment$499 million · 8.9%
    2 thousand tonnes
  2. Diodes, transistors and solar cells$295 million · 5.3%
    96 thousand tonnes
  3. Computers$245 million · 4.4%
    1 thousand tonnes · China’s destinations
  4. Transformers and power supplies$188 million · 3.3%
    10 thousand tonnes
  5. Air conditioners$167 million · 3%
    20 thousand tonnes · China’s destinations
  6. Batteries$137 million · 2.4%
    10 thousand tonnes · China’s destinations
  7. Toys$134 million · 2.4%
    24 thousand tonnes · China’s destinations
  8. Computer and office machine parts$108 million · 1.9%
    3 thousand tonnes
  9. Lamps and light fittings$94 million · 1.7%
    10 thousand tonnes
  10. Seats and chairs$89 million · 1.6%
    25 thousand tonnes

How it travels

Estimated sea route from Varna to Shanghai.

The estimated sea route between Varna and Shanghai is 15,060 nautical miles (27,891 km) long: ≈ 35–45 days at sea (at 18 and 14 knots).

Because of the 2024 disruptions, traffic is split: 85% via the Bosporus, the Dardanelles, the Strait of Gibraltar, the Cape of Good Hope and the Strait of Malacca and Singapore (15,060 nautical miles); and 15% via the Bosporus, the Dardanelles, the Suez Canal, the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Strait of Malacca and Singapore (8,284 nautical miles).

Sailing estimate without port calls, waiting or transshipment; not a schedule. One main reference port per country: in large countries it does not represent all of its ports.

Split by transport mode

  1. Sea$5.2 billion · 76.8%
  2. Air$1.6 billion · 23.2%

Mode estimated from value per kilo and geography; both directions together.

How much each matters to the other

China was Bulgaria’s 4th largest trading partner (7% of its trade), and Bulgaria was China’s 78th (0.1%).

China in Bulgaria’s trade
6.6%
China’s rank among Bulgaria’s partners
4th
Bulgaria in China’s trade
0.1%
Bulgaria’s rank among China’s partners
78th

Compare with

Other partners of Bulgaria

Other partners of China

Sources and methodology

Sources and licenses

Methodology

Goods trade from CEPII BACI (BACI_HS92_V202601), in current US dollars, with exports and imports reconciled between countries. The transport mode is our own estimate based on value per kilo and geography. The sea route comes from our own network derived from World Bank shipping density (not from nautical charts), between one main reference port per country (World Port Index); days are the distance at 14 and 18 knots, without port calls or waiting. Data up to 2024.