NUTS 3 areas of Bulgaria by active enterprises, 2023

Sofia (stolitsa) had the highest active enterprises of 28 areas in 2023, at 124,186. Vidin had the lowest, at 2,663. The median was 6,618 and the figure for Bulgaria was 404,257. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest124,186Sofia (stolitsa)

Lowest2,663Vidin

Median6,61828 areas

Bulgaria404,257History

All areas, 2023

count. Source: Eurostat, Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	Areas	2023 count	Change on 2022
1	Sofia (stolitsa)	124,186	+2.6%
2	Plovdiv	40,259	+3.3%
3	Varna	31,950	+3.2%
4	Burgas	28,984	+3.1%
5	Blagoevgrad	20,457	+1%
6	Stara Zagora	14,865	+2.3%
7	Haskovo	11,028	+1.4%
8	Ruse	11,023	+1.8%
9	Veliko Tarnovo	10,034	+3.2%
10	Pazardzhik	10,031	+2.1%
11	Sofia	9,759	+3.5%
12	Pleven	9,388	+2.7%
13	Dobrich	7,465	+1.5%
14	Sliven	6,813	+2.1%
15	Shumen	6,423	+2%
16	Kyustendil	6,060	+2.1%
17	Gabrovo	5,883	+3.4%
18	Vratsa	5,634	+3.2%
19	Pernik	5,461	+2.8%
20	Kardzhali	5,257	+2.9%
21	Lovech	5,173	+1.7%
22	Smolyan	5,121	+2.7%
23	Yambol	4,878	+1.5%
24	Montana	4,233	+2.2%
25	Razgrad	3,987	+2.6%
26	Targovishte	3,759	+1%
27	Silistra	3,483	+3.4%
28	Vidin	2,663	+1.4%

Other periods

2023
2022
2021

About this ranking

Enterprises that had turnover or employment at any time during the year, with or without employees.

Counts enterprises, which can run several local units, under the harmonised Eurostat and OECD business demography rules. Not the same as active_companies (the INE business register count for Spain) or employer_firms (US firms with employees). For the UK it counts every enterprise active at some point in the year, so it differs from registered_enterprises_total (UK Business Counts), a snapshot of the register in March.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the areas are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

Eurostat. Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

Eurostat, European Commission. (2026). Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r) (NUTS 3 areas of Bulgaria by active enterprises, 2023) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table

MLA 9

Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r), NUTS 3 areas of Bulgaria by active enterprises, 2023. Eurostat, European Commission, 13 Mar. 2026, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/active-enterprises/bulgaria-provinces. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r). NUTS 3 areas of Bulgaria by active enterprises, 2023. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/active-enterprises/bulgaria-provinces.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2026) Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r), NUTS 3 areas of Bulgaria by active enterprises, 2023 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/active-enterprises/bulgaria-provinces (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_nuts_3_areas_of_2023,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd\_size\_r): NUTS 3 areas of Bulgaria by active enterprises, 2023}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/active-enterprises/bulgaria-provinces. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd\_size\_r). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd\_size\_r/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - Eurostat, European Commission
TI  - Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r): NUTS 3 areas of Bulgaria by active enterprises, 2023
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/03/13
PB  - Eurostat, European Commission
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/active-enterprises/bulgaria-provinces
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/active-enterprises/bulgaria-provinces.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which area has the highest active enterprises?

Sofia (stolitsa), with 124,186 in 2023, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which area has the lowest active enterprises?

Vidin, with 2,663 in 2023.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Eurostat, European Commission, Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r). Retrieved 2026-10-12.