ICT USAGE AND E-COMMERCE IN ENTERPRISES - 2025
Access and use of the internet
In 2025, 96.3% of non-financial enterprises with 10 or more persons employed had internet access. Fixed internet connection was available in 88.0% of the enterprises and the maximum download speed was more than 100 Mbps in 54.7% of the enterprises. Of the companies with 250 or more persons employed, 81.9% had download speed higher than 100 Mbps, and 20.7% had speed more than 1 Gbps.
The relative share of persons employed who had access to the internet was 44.8%. The highest number of persons employed who used the internet was found in sector ‘Information and communication’ (92.5%), and the lowest number - in sector ‘Construction’ (28.9%).
Every second enterprise (49.7%) had a website, and among the companies with 250 or more persons employed the relative share was 85.7%. On the website, enterprises most often provided users with description of goods or services and price information (38.7%), as well as website’s content available in at least two languages - 25.1%.
In 2025, 41.5% of the companies used social media (Facebook, Instagram, X, Snapchat, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, Xing, Viadeo, etc.) to develop their business and enlarge their internet presence. Relative share in the large enterprises with 250 and more persons employed was 69.8%, while in small (10 - 49 persons employed) and in medium-sized companies (50 - 249 persons employed), this share was 38.7% and 52.5%, respectively.
Electronic commerce (e-commerce)
In 2024, 16.2% of the enterprises sold goods or services online and the turnover of e-commerce was 7.6% of the total turnover of the enterprises. Relative share of the companies, which had web sales via their own website or app, was 11.6% and of those using e-commerce marketplaces for trading goods or services such as Booking.com, TimoCom, eBay, Amazon, Alibaba, eMAG, Glovo, Takeaway, Pop Up, etc. - 7.1%. EDI-type sales of goods or services had 1.9% of the enterprises.
Of the enterprises that had web sales, 97.0% sold goods and services to customers in Bulgaria, 37.7% - to customers in EU countries and 21.4% - to other countries.
Over a five-year period (2020 - 2024), the relative share of the enterprises that had e-commerce sales of goods or services increased by 4.4 percentage points.
Artificial intelligence (AI)
In 2025, enterprises using any Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology were 8.5%, with their relative share increased by 2.0 percentage points compared to the previous year. The use of these technologies was most common among the companies with 250 or more persons employed - 26.2%.
AI technologies were most frequently applied by the companies in sector ‘Information and communication’ (42.0%), followed by those in sector ‘Professional, scientific and technical activities’ - 26.4%. The fewest enterprises used AI technologies in sector ‘Construction’ - 3.0%.
The AI technologies that most companies implemented in their operations, were those for performing analysis of written language (58.1%[1]), followed by:
- AI technologies generating pictures, videos, sound/audio - 52.9%;
- AI technologies automating different workflows or assisting in decision making - 44.0%;
- AI technologies generating written, spoken language - 37.7%;
- AI technologies converting spoken language into machine-readable format - 31.2%;
- AI technologies identifying objects or persons - 28.1%;
- machine learning for data analysis - 26.5%.
The main purposes for which enterprises used AI technologies were related to marketing or sales (36.1%) and organization of business administration processes or management - 32.5%.
Of the enterprises that did not use AI technologies, 5.6% indicated that they have considered implementing them into their work processes. The main obstacle for most of them (72.7%) was the lack of relevant expertise in this area, and for 55.7% the costs seemed too high. For 51.8% there was an incompatibility with the existing equipment, software or systems, while 50.3% were concerned about the lack of clarity about the legal consequences.
Data utilisation and analytics
In 2025, 26.6% of the companies used enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. The share of enterprises that had a customer relationship management (CRM) application was smaller - 11.9%, as well as of those using business intelligence (BI) software - 6.8%.
More than a quarter (27.1%) of the companies performed data analytics, and among the enterprises with 250 or more persons employed the relative share was 63.4%. 22.5% of the companies preferred to have data analysed by their own employees, while 9.4% outsourced this activity to an external enterprise or organization.
Enterprises performed data analytics on data from the following sources:
- transaction records such as sale details, payment records - 76.6%[1];
- data about customers such as purchasing information, location, preferences, customer reviews, searches - 57.6%;
- government authorities’ open data - 45.4%;
- data from social media - 37.2%;
- web data - 34.1%;
- data from the use of portable devices or vehicles - 32.2%;
- data from smart devices or sensors - 18.4%;
- satellite data - 13.1%.
Use of cloud computing services
In 2025, 17.8% of the enterprises used paid cloud computing services to reduce their hardware and software costs. Relative share in the large enterprises with 250 and more persons employed was 49.1%, while in small (10 - 49 persons employed) and in medium-sized companies (50 - 249 persons employed), this share was 14.7% and 30.1%, respectively.
Main users of cloud services were the enterprises in sector ‘Information and communication’ - 56.2%, and least companies used these services in sector ‘Construction’ - 8.9%.
The most commonly used cloud computing service was the e-mail (82.6%), followed by:
- storage of files - 71.3%;
- office software - 64.2%;
- hosting of database(s) - 63.6%;
- security software applications - 55.5%;
- finance and accounting software applications - 45.0%;
- ERP software - 36.1%.
ICT and the environment
In 2025, 10.0% of the enterprises used ICT systems or solutions to reduce energy consumption, and 7.6% - to reduce the materials used or to enhance the use of recycled materials.
Almost half of the companies (48.6%) kept the ICT equipment (computers, monitors, printers, mobile phones, etc.) that they no longer use for spare parts or due to concerns about sensitive information being disclosed. A smaller proportion (44.6%) of the enterprises disposed it of in electronic waste collection or recycling, and 19.7% sold it, returned it to a leasing enterprise, or donated it.
ICT USAGE IN HOUSEHOLDS AND BY INDIVIDUALS - 2025
The main results of the survey on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) usage in households and by individuals in 2025 showed that:
- 92.8% of the households in Bulgaria had internet access at home;
- 86.5% of the individuals aged between 16 and 74 years used the internet every day or at least once a week;
- 51.2% bought goods or services for private use over the internet;
- 35.9% used the global network for interaction with public authorities or public services;
- 22.5% used generative artificial intelligence (AI).
Internet access
The trend of annual growth of the relative share of households with internet access continued and in 2025, 92.8% of the households in Bulgaria had access to the global network at home. Of the households living in urban areas, 94.9% had internet access and for those resided in rural areas the relative share was 86.2%. The digital connectivity gap between urban and rural areas decreased, and in 2025 it was 8.7 percentage points, compared to 21.5 percentage points in 2016.
The highest relative share of households with internet access was found in Yugozapaden region (95.9%), followed by Severoiztochen region and Yuzhen tsentralen region - 92.7% and 92.3%, respectively. The lowest relative share of households with online connectivity was observed in Severozapaden region - 87.3%.
Use of the internet by individuals aged between 16 and 74 years
In 2025, 86.5% of the individuals aged between 16 and 74 years used the internet every day or at least once a week at any location (home, work or other places). The relative share increased by 4.6 percentage points compared to the previous year. The share of people who had never surfed the internet decreased to 7.0%.
The most active users of the internet were the students (99.3%) and young people in the age groups 16 - 24 and 25 - 34 years, 98.2% and 96.9%, respectively, as well as the individuals with tertiary education - 96.6%. More and more elderly people took advantage of the opportunities provided by the global network and in 2025, the relative share of individuals aged 65 - 74 who surfed regularly, was 59.7%.
The most preferred device to access the internet was the mobile phone (incl. smartphone) which was used by 85.5% of the people, followed by the laptop - 34.5%.
The internet was used mostly for communication by the individuals as 75.6% of them carried out phone or video calls (using applications such as Viber, WhatsApp, Skype, FaceTime, Messenger, Snapchat, Zoom, MS Teams, Webex), while least people took part
In 2025, 22.5% of the people used generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools, such as ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, BgGPT, etc. to create text, images, code, videos and other data. The most active users were the young people in the age group 16 - 24 years (50.0%) and those aged 25 - 34 years - 36.4%, while only 3.3% of the elderly people aged 65 - 74 years took advantage of AI. Among the people with higher education, the relative share was 41.2%.
The majority of people used generative AI for private purposes (20.2%), 8.4% used it for professional (work) purposes, and 5.2% consulted AI for formal education.
The main reason for not using generative AI tools was lack of need (45.5%), 9.3% of the individuals did not know how to use them, and 6.3% did not know that such applications existed.
E-government
In 2025, 35.9% of the individuals used the global network for interaction with public authorities or public services. Compared to the previous year, the relative share increased by 4.1 percentage points.
People with tertiary education used e-government services more often (65.9%), compared to only 8.7% of people with basic education and lower. By age, the highest relative share of individuals who interacted with public authorities or public services was observed in the age group 35 - 44 (49.8%), and the lowest among those aged 65 - 74 (11.8%). Females were more active than males in the use of online services offered by the public authorities or public services - 36.8% and 35.0%, respectively.
Bulgarian citizens most often used e-government for the following purposes:
- accessing personal information stored by public authorities or public services - 19.0%;
- downloading any official forms - 16.6%;
- obtaining information - 15.6%;
- submitting tax declaration via the website of NRA - 15.2%.
Least people made complaints or claims online, or requested benefits or entitlements - 1.9% each.
Electronic commerce (e-commerce)
In 2025, every second Bulgarian (51.2%) bought goods or services for private use over the internet, and compared to the previous year the relative share increased by 1.4 percentage points. Females were more active in online shopping than males - 53.4% and 49.0%, respectively. The most active buyers of goods or services over the internet were the people in the age group 25 - 34 years (70.8%) and those aged 16 - 24 years - 67.7%. The least active online shoppers were the individuals aged between 65 and 74 years - 17.7%.
The highest relative share of online shoppers was found in Yugozapaden region and in Severoiztochen region - 62.0% and 55.0%, respectively, while the lowest relative share was observed in Yugoiztochen region (37.7%). Significant disparity in the use of e-commerce was observed by place of residence, with 55.0% of individuals living in urban areas who shopped online, compared to 40.4% of those resided in rural areas.
Internet shoppers most frequently bought:
- physical goods - 95.4%;
- accommodation (from hotels, travel agencies, tour operators) - 39.3%;
- transport services (e.g. local bus, train, flight tickets, taxi ride) - 33.6%;
- tickets to cultural or other events - 32.7%;
- subscriptions to the internet or mobile phone connections - 25.0%;
- films, series or sports streaming service - 23.1%.
Digital skills
In 2025, 38.3% of the individuals had basic or above basic digital skills. The highest relative share was found among the people aged between 25 and 34 years (56.6%) and among the young between 16 and 24 years - 52.8%. Digital literacy was lowest among the population in the age group 65 - 74 years, as nearly half of them (49.8%) had no digital skills.
Individuals who indicated they found information that they considered untrue or doubtful on internet news sites or social media, were 45.5%. From them, 42.4% checked the truthfulness of the information found on the internet through:
- checking the sources or finding other information on the internet - 76.6%;
- discussing the information offline with other persons or using sources not on the internet - 49.9%;
- following or taking part in a discussion on the internet regarding the information - 44.4%.
Almost every third person (29.6%) encountered messages on the internet that they considered to be hostile or degrading towards groups of people or individuals. These messages were mainly targeted at people’s political or social views (68.0%), sexual orientation (52.6%) or racial and ethnic origin - 49.1%.
Privacy and protection of personal data on the internet
In 2025, 54.4% of the individuals carried out activities to manage access to their personal data on the internet, such as:
- reading privacy policy statements before providing personal data - 35.6%;
- restricting or refusing access to information about geographical location - 26.7%;
- limiting access to profile or content on social networking sites or shared online storage - 22.9%;
- refusing the use of personal data for advertising purposes - 22.4%.
Concerns that their online activities were being recorded to provide them with tailored ads, had 47.0% of the people, 10.3% used software that limit the ability to track their activities on the internet, and 16.6% changed the settings of their internet browser to limit the number of cookies that were stored on their devices.
Use of the internet by individuals aged between 75 and 89 years
In 2025, 24.9% of the individuals aged between 75 and 89 years used the internet every day or at least once a week. The share of people who had never surfed the internet was 59.7%. The main reason was the lack of need (the internet is not useful, interesting, etc.) - 52.6%, 22.8% stated that the use of internet was too difficult, and 5.8% of the elderly people had physical or mental challenges to use the internet.
The people aged 75 - 89 years mainly accessed the internet via a mobile phone or smartphone (23.9%), 3.3% used a laptop, and 3.1% - desktop computer.
The online activities that people in this age group most often performed were:
- making calls (including video calls) over the internet (using applications such as Viber, WhatsApp, Skype, FaceTime, Messenger, Snapchat, Zoom, MS Teams, Webex) - 19.8%;
- reading online news sites, newspapers, news magazines - 16.6%;
- using instant messaging (via Viber, WhatsApp, Messenger, Snapchat, Skype, Discord, Telegram) - 14.0%;
- seeking health-related information - 12.1%;
- participating in social networks (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok etc.) - 10.5%.
