The Bulgarian capital ranks 14th in Eastern Europe in terms of cost of living

In 2026 Sofia ranks 301st in the world in terms of cost of living, which residents pay for basic necessities such as food, consumption, utilities, transportation and housing rent. This is according to the online platform numbeo.com, which offers one of the world's largest databases of living standards in 479 cities around the world.

Life in Sofia is slightly cheaper than that in Istanbul, which ranks 300th in the ranking, but slightly more expensive than Addis Ababa, which ranks 302nd. Last year, Sofia ranked 198th, behind the Chinese metropolis Shenzhen and ahead of the Thai capital Bangkok. Four more Bulgarian cities are in the numbeo.com ranking of the most expensive places to live in 2026. Varna is in 324th place, Burgas in 342nd, Plovdiv in 352nd and Stara Zagora in 414th place.

Editor: Ivo Ivanov
Photo: independent.co.uk