The Center for the Study of Democracy is the official partner for Bulgaria of the IMD World Competitiveness Center, Switzerland. According to the Global Competitiveness Yearbook 2021 of IMD, in the last twelve years, the Bulgarian economy, pulled by the EU, has been slowly recovering, however it is far from having reached its full potential. In 2021, Bulgaria ranks 53rd out of 64 countries, demonstrating a deterioration of five positions compared to 2020, and fifteen positions compared to 2009. Thus, the Bulgarian economy remains among the most uncompetitive in Europe. 
Major Challenges and Opportunities for improving Bulgaria’s Competitiveness in 2021:

• Political instability and slow rate of COVID-19 vaccination.
• Limited diffusion of the e-government solutions.
• Slow energy transition and high energy costs for businesses.
• Lagging quality of university education, brain drain and low R&D spending.
• Persistent governance and corruption issues.