Bulgarian cities rise in Oxford Economics Global Cities Index

Three Bulgarian cities—Sofia, Varna, and Plovdiv—have shown significant advancement in the 2026 Global Cities Index published by Oxford Economics. The index ranks the top 1,000 urban economies worldwide based on five key pillars: economy, human capital, quality of life, environment, and governance.

Sofia is the highest-ranked Bulgarian city, climbing 121 positions to reach 303rd place. It performs strongest in the economy category (261st) and quality of life (274th). Varna recorded the most substantial improvement among the three, jumping 171 places to rank 451st, with a notable performance in quality of life at 337th.

Plovdiv rose 116 positions to reach 643rd place. The city’s strongest metric is quality of life, where it ranks 403rd, followed by governance at 366th and environment at 536th. Analysts note that these improvements reflect broader economic growth and rising incomes across Central and Eastern Europe.