Bulgaria Tops EU in Hospital Bed Availability
Sofia, The Gulf Observer: Bulgaria has emerged as the European Union’s leader in hospital bed availability per capita, yet it simultaneously faces serious shortcomings in its long-term care infrastructure. The latest Eurostat data for 2023 highlights this duality in Bulgaria’s healthcare system, revealing a significant imbalance in healthcare services.
According to Eurostat, Bulgaria reported 864 hospital beds per 100,000 people—substantially higher than the EU average of 511 beds. This places Bulgaria ahead of countries with advanced healthcare systems, including Germany (766 beds), Romania (728), Austria (660), and Hungary (651). On the opposite end, nations like Sweden (187 beds), the Netherlands (231), and Denmark (233) had fewer than 300 beds per 100,000 inhabitants.
Despite this strong performance in acute hospital care, Bulgaria significantly lags behind in long-term care provision. The country offers only 26 long-term care beds per 100,000 people—ranking among the lowest in the EU, just ahead of Greece (20 beds). In stark contrast, countries such as the Netherlands (1,400 beds), Sweden (1,315), and Belgium (1,250) boast robust long-term care infrastructures.
This gap in institutional long-term care has led to a troubling rise in illegal nursing homes across Bulgaria. As the aging population grows and formal care options remain limited, many unregulated facilities have emerged to fill the void, often lacking proper oversight, staffing, and safety conditions.
The sharp disparity between Bulgaria’s well-resourced hospital sector and its underdeveloped long-term care system underscores a systemic imbalance. While acute care has received considerable investment, ongoing and supportive care for the elderly and chronically ill remains severely neglected—a situation that calls for urgent policy reform and resource reallocation in Bulgaria’s healthcare system.
