Share of primary energy from hydropower in Bulgaria
Bulgaria: Share of primary energy from hydropower was 1.4% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Share of primary energy from hydropower in Bulgaria, 1965–2025
Source: Energy Institute – Statistical Review of World Energy (2026); Smil (2017); U.S. Energy Information Administration (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Bulgaria recorded 1.4% for share of primary energy from hydropower in 2025.
The figure is down 2.2% on the previous year and down 44.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of primary energy from hydropower in Bulgaria peaked at 2.6% in 2015 and was at its lowest, 0.5%, in 1990.
Bulgaria ranks 37th of 80 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 61 years of available data.
Share of primary energy from hydropower in Bulgaria, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1965 | 1.7% | — |
| 1966 | 1.6% | -6.5% |
| 1967 | 1.4% | -13.8% |
| 1968 | 0.8% | -42.9% |
| 1969 | 1.0% | +27.0% |
| 1970 | 1.0% | +4.1% |
| 1971 | 1.0% | -3.2% |
| 1972 | 1.0% | -6.3% |
| 1973 | 1.1% | +18.5% |
| 1974 | 0.9% | -21.8% |
| 1975 | 0.9% | +6.7% |
| 1976 | 1.1% | +13.8% |
| 1977 | 1.2% | +13.6% |
| 1978 | 1.0% | -20.8% |
| 1979 | 1.1% | +9.9% |
| 1980 | 1.1% | +6.4% |
| 1981 | 1.1% | -1.3% |
| 1982 | 0.9% | -18.1% |
| 1983 | 1.0% | +9.3% |
| 1984 | 1.0% | -2.3% |
| 1985 | 0.7% | -31.3% |
| 1986 | 0.7% | +2.0% |
| 1987 | 0.7% | +8.3% |
| 1988 | 0.7% | -0.2% |
| 1989 | 0.8% | +4.7% |
| 1990 | 0.5% | -34.8% |
| 1991 | 0.9% | +72.9% |
| 1992 | 0.8% | -10.9% |
| 1993 | 0.7% | -12.2% |
| 1994 | 0.5% | -25.0% |
| 1995 | 0.8% | +56.8% |
| 1996 | 1.1% | +33.8% |
| 1997 | 1.1% | -0.3% |
| 1998 | 1.3% | +17.6% |
| 1999 | 1.3% | +1.3% |
| 2000 | 1.2% | -4.0% |
| 2001 | 0.7% | -40.0% |
| 2002 | 1.0% | +32.3% |
| 2003 | 1.3% | +38.1% |
| 2004 | 1.5% | +8.4% |
| 2005 | 1.8% | +27.0% |
| 2006 | 1.8% | -4.2% |
| 2007 | 1.2% | -30.9% |
| 2008 | 1.2% | -0.5% |
| 2009 | 1.7% | +40.8% |
| 2010 | 2.4% | +42.3% |
| 2011 | 1.3% | -47.3% |
| 2012 | 1.5% | +17.7% |
| 2013 | 2.1% | +39.2% |
| 2014 | 2.2% | +6.4% |
| 2015 | 2.6% | +16.6% |
| 2016 | 1.9% | -28.8% |
| 2017 | 1.3% | -29.4% |
| 2018 | 2.4% | +84.0% |
| 2019 | 1.4% | -42.2% |
| 2020 | 1.5% | +4.2% |
| 2021 | 2.2% | +52.5% |
| 2022 | 1.7% | -24.0% |
| 2023 | 1.6% | -5.0% |
| 2024 | 1.5% | -8.1% |
| 2025 | 1.4% | -2.2% |
Bulgaria compared with similar countries
- Bulgaria's 1.4% is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.8%, 1.8× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Bulgaria's 1.4% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 1.4%, 1.0× the median. (39 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1.3% | 0.8% | 1.7% | 5 |
| 1970s | 1.0% | 0.9% | 1.2% | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.9% | 0.7% | 1.1% | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.9% | 0.5% | 1.3% | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.3% | 0.7% | 1.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.9% | 1.3% | 2.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.6% | 1.4% | 2.2% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Bulgaria
More energy & mining data for Bulgaria
- Fossil fuel consumption by fuel, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Primary energy use, annual growth rate 2.05 % change on previous year (2025)
- Coal consumption, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2025)
- Coal consumption, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Primary energy use, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Primary energy use, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2025)
- Coal production, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2025)
- Coal production, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fossil fuel consumption by fuel, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2025)
- Fuel imports 12.3% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of primary energy from hydropower in Bulgaria?
- Share of primary energy from hydropower in Bulgaria was 1.4% in 2025, according to Energy Institute – Statistical Review of World Energy (2026); Smil (2017); U.S. Energy Information Administration (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of primary energy from hydropower recorded in Bulgaria?
- The highest recorded value was 2.6% in 2015.
- What is the lowest share of primary energy from hydropower recorded in Bulgaria?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.5% in 1990.
- How does Bulgaria rank for share of primary energy from hydropower?
- Bulgaria ranks 37th out of 80 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of primary energy from hydropower rising or falling in Bulgaria?
- Over the last ten years it is down 44.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Bulgaria data come from?
- The figures come from Energy Institute – Statistical Review of World Energy (2026); Smil (2017); U.S. Energy Information Administration (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of primary energy from hydropower. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
Measured as a percentage of total energy supply.