CITY / CITYVerified city comparison
BatumivsVarna.
Varna is stronger on 4 of 8 headline facts; Batumi on 2. Cost of living (single, excl. rent): Batumi $220/mo, Varna $460/mo. Freelancer tax burden: Batumi 1%, Varna 18.1%. Climate comfort: Batumi 3/12 mo, Varna 5/12 mo.
VerifiedUpdated
14 compared criteria · 30 sources · country-level facts are clearly inherited
ge / bg · SettleMetric
01
The key differences
The key numbers head-to-head — the stronger side is marked. The overall score stays decoration; what matters is which facts fit you.
Headline result
Varna leads on 4 of 8
Batumi
2
Varna
4
Geostat — Households Expenditures survey 2025
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Method
- Geostat 2025 average per-capita monthly consumption (603 GEL) split by the survey's COICOP category shares, with the imputed-housing portion removed, converted at 2.6431 GEL/USD (NBG 2026-07-02). Categories sum to this figure. Geostat has no clean single-person-excl-rent basket, so treat as a curated estimate.
NSI Bulgaria — Income, Expenditure and Consumption of Households in 2024 (Household Budget Survey)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- NSI HBS 2024 consumer expenditure per household member = BGN 9,466/yr (COICOP consumption, effectively rent-free — Bulgaria doesn't impute owner rent, ~85% ownership, housing line is utilities). 9,466 ÷ 12 = 788.83 BGN/mo ÷ 1.95583 = €403.32/mo × 1.1399 = $459.75/mo → $460. Household-Budget-Survey basis chosen for peer consistency (matching the capture ratio of the Spain/Czechia figures). Bulgaria is the cheapest of the peer set.
- Notes
- The cheapest vs peers (BG ~$460 < CZ ~$785 < ES ~$941), consistent with income levels. Bulgaria adopted the euro on 1 Jan 2026 (1 EUR = 1.95583 BGN).
SettleMetric tax engine over Tax Code (Small Business Status)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme ge-small-business-1pct at €60,000 = 180,738 GEL (NBG 3.0123 GEL/EUR), below the 500,000 GEL threshold → 1% turnover tax = 1,807 GEL, no mandatory social/pension. Effective burden ≈ 1.0%.
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Best representative freelancer scheme at €60,000, single = свободна професия (scheme bg-svobodna-profesia): 25% deemed expenses → base €45,000; social 27.8% capped at €7,044.43 (max insurable income €2,111.64/mo); 10% tax on €37,955.57 = €3,795.56. Levies €10,839.99 → 18.1%. The ЕООД company chain (10% + 5% dividend) shows a lower headline (~14.5%) but excludes the compulsory owner-manager social insurance, so свободна професия is the honest freelancer burden.
UNODC (via World Bank mirror) — intentional homicide, Georgia
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2019
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Notes
- 2019 is the latest year UNODC publishes for Georgia. Low by global standards (world average ≈ 5.8); Georgia is widely regarded as very safe for residents. No city-level series is published.
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB, geo=BG)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (1.23). Downward trend from 2.29 in 2008; recent years 2020 0.96, 2021 1.29, 2022 1.11, 2023 1.15, 2024 1.23. Moderate by European standards.
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Method
- Months with mean daily max 15–28°C and precip < 150mm: Apr, May, Jun = 3. Jul–Nov all exceed 150mm precipitation (very wet).
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals (WMO 1991–2020, Varna 15552)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- Months whose mean daily maximum is between 15 and 28 °C and whose precipitation is under 150 mm: Apr (15.5 °C), May (21.2), Jun (26.1), Sep (24.8), Oct (19.0) = 5. July (28.9) and August (29.4) are excluded as too hot, March (11.2) and November (13.2) as too cold. The precipitation test excludes nothing: the wettest month is October at 56 mm.
- Notes
- April only just qualifies, at 15.5 °C. One more pleasant month than Plovdiv (4) and one fewer than Sofia (6), whose 586 m elevation keeps its July under the ceiling.
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Georgia
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Median of 343 daily country medians (download_MED), 47,852 download tests (2023 — latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API; the 2024 file is only Jan–Mar, and 2025/2026 are not yet published). Georgia sits under continent code AS in M-Lab.
- Notes
- M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads well below Ookla-style figures — comparable only within this criterion. Cross-check: the World Bank's July-2024 median of ~20 Mbps (Ookla-derived, so not citable here) is consistent with this once the M-Lab-reads-low offset is accounted for. Speeds are trending up (~10%/yr: M-Lab yearly medians ran 9.7 in 2020 → 15.8 in 2023), so multi-year pooling would understate current speed; the latest full year is used instead. GNCC/comcom.ge publishes operator quality-of-service measurements (e.g. Magticom fixed ~56 Mb/s advertised-tier average, 2025/26) but no national measured median, and its own speed commentary relies on the same Ookla data we can't redistribute.
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Bulgaria
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 343 daily country-median download values for BG in 2023 = 42.85 Mbps (139,790 download tests). M-Lab NDT is single-stream and understates real line speeds — Bulgaria has very fast, cheap fibre (commonly 100–1000 Mbps advertised) — comparable only within this criterion. 2023 is the latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API.
- Notes
- Bulgaria is known for fast, inexpensive fixed broadband; the M-Lab single-stream median is used only for cross-country comparability on one consistent method.
EF EPI 2025 (score 541, rank 35/123 — High band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI (attribution: EF Education First). English is workable in Tbilisi/Batumi tourism and the younger service sector; less so in government and older generations. Russian remains widely understood.
EF EPI 2025 — Bulgaria (score 594, rank 18/123, High band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): Bulgaria ranks #18 of 123, score 594 (global average 488), 'High Proficiency' band. English is broadly workable in Sofia's tech and service sectors and among younger Bulgarians; Bulgarian (Cyrillic) remains essential for administration and daily life outside the capital.
Georgian insurers (Ardi, GPI, Imedi L) — comprehensive-tier plans
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 3, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Method
- Midpoint of comprehensive local plans: Ardi Medi Premium from ~$340/yr up to market comprehensive ~$795/yr (converted at 2.6431 GEL/USD). Expat international plans run higher ($1,000–2,000/yr).
- Notes
- Georgian insurers quote by callback rather than public age-rated engines, so this is a curated market midpoint for local comprehensive cover, not a bound quote.
Curated market survey of Bulgarian voluntary health insurers (2026)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Bulgaria has mandatory public health insurance (НЗОК) with no full private-replacement market, so this is the VOLUNTARY supplementary premium: a comprehensive mid-tier plan (outpatient GP+specialist, labs, imaging, hospitalisation) ~€60/month = €720/yr → $821/yr at 1.1399. Range €30–60/mo (basic) to €60–120/mo (premium with dental/vision).
- Notes
- Supplementary to mandatory public НЗОК, not a replacement (like Austria's Sonderklasse). Main voluntary insurers: DZI, Bulstrad VIG, Generali, Allianz Bulgaria, DallBogg, UNIQA. Indicative premiums, vary with coverage caps and deductibles.
IQAir 2024 World Air Quality Report
Research
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Notes
- Attribution: IQAir. Coastal Batumi is cleaner than Tbilisi (sea breeze, less heating smog), among the least-polluted cities in IQAir's West Asia grouping — still ~2.4× the WHO guideline.
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- Validated (E1a, verification flag 1) 2024 annual mean at station BG0075A "AMS SOU Angel Kanchev-Varna", an urban background site at 43.2244°N 27.9157°E, 1.9 km from the city centre: 10.9899 µg/m³ on 96.45% data coverage, queried from the EEA statistics service on 2026-09-24. It is the only Varna station in the EEA's 2024 PM2.5 statistics. The WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026) carries the same 10.99 µg/m³ for Varna/BGR in 2024 at 96% coverage; its row counts two stations because the second Varna site, BG0083A "AMS Chaika - Varna", reports PM10 but no 2024 PM2.5 annual mean — the two stations' 2024 PM10 means, 25.28 and 22.43, average 23.86, against the WHO row's PM10 of 23.855. Reference year 2024, the year used for Sofia and Plovdiv.
- Notes
- ONE STATION, as for Plovdiv. Varna's figure rests on one urban background site, so it describes the city's background level and says nothing about traffic corridors. The WHO database also holds 2025 — 10.92 µg/m³ at 90% coverage — which is not yet in the EEA's validated statistics (no Bulgarian 2025 PM2.5 rows on 2026-09-24), so 2024 is kept. The series has been flat since 2021: 11.15 (72% coverage), 9.95 (91%), 10.13 (100%), 10.99 (96%); 2019 read 18.55 on 77% coverage. Sofia's figure in this dataset is lower (10.48), but half of it comes from a rural station at 1,321 m on Vitosha: Sofia's one urban PM2.5 station read 12.65 in 2024, above Varna. Plovdiv's single urban station read 16.67. About twice the WHO 2021 guideline of 5 µg/m³, and just above the EU limit of 10 that applies from 2030.
02
Which city fits your plan?
Each lens weighs only the facts that matter to that plan, and names the side it favours.
Remote IT / freelancer
Contract or freelance in tech, billing clients abroad.
Varna fits better — 2 of 5
SettleMetric tax engine over Tax Code (Small Business Status)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme ge-small-business-1pct at €60,000 = 180,738 GEL (NBG 3.0123 GEL/EUR), below the 500,000 GEL threshold → 1% turnover tax = 1,807 GEL, no mandatory social/pension. Effective burden ≈ 1.0%.
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Best representative freelancer scheme at €60,000, single = свободна професия (scheme bg-svobodna-profesia): 25% deemed expenses → base €45,000; social 27.8% capped at €7,044.43 (max insurable income €2,111.64/mo); 10% tax on €37,955.57 = €3,795.56. Levies €10,839.99 → 18.1%. The ЕООД company chain (10% + 5% dividend) shows a lower headline (~14.5%) but excludes the compulsory owner-manager social insurance, so свободна професия is the honest freelancer burden.
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Georgia
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Median of 343 daily country medians (download_MED), 47,852 download tests (2023 — latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API; the 2024 file is only Jan–Mar, and 2025/2026 are not yet published). Georgia sits under continent code AS in M-Lab.
- Notes
- M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads well below Ookla-style figures — comparable only within this criterion. Cross-check: the World Bank's July-2024 median of ~20 Mbps (Ookla-derived, so not citable here) is consistent with this once the M-Lab-reads-low offset is accounted for. Speeds are trending up (~10%/yr: M-Lab yearly medians ran 9.7 in 2020 → 15.8 in 2023), so multi-year pooling would understate current speed; the latest full year is used instead. GNCC/comcom.ge publishes operator quality-of-service measurements (e.g. Magticom fixed ~56 Mb/s advertised-tier average, 2025/26) but no national measured median, and its own speed commentary relies on the same Ookla data we can't redistribute.
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Bulgaria
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 343 daily country-median download values for BG in 2023 = 42.85 Mbps (139,790 download tests). M-Lab NDT is single-stream and understates real line speeds — Bulgaria has very fast, cheap fibre (commonly 100–1000 Mbps advertised) — comparable only within this criterion. 2023 is the latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API.
- Notes
- Bulgaria is known for fast, inexpensive fixed broadband; the M-Lab single-stream median is used only for cross-country comparability on one consistent method.
EF EPI 2025 (score 541, rank 35/123 — High band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI (attribution: EF Education First). English is workable in Tbilisi/Batumi tourism and the younger service sector; less so in government and older generations. Russian remains widely understood.
EF EPI 2025 — Bulgaria (score 594, rank 18/123, High band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): Bulgaria ranks #18 of 123, score 594 (global average 488), 'High Proficiency' band. English is broadly workable in Sofia's tech and service sectors and among younger Bulgarians; Bulgarian (Cyrillic) remains essential for administration and daily life outside the capital.
Geostat — Households Expenditures survey 2025
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Method
- Geostat 2025 average per-capita monthly consumption (603 GEL) split by the survey's COICOP category shares, with the imputed-housing portion removed, converted at 2.6431 GEL/USD (NBG 2026-07-02). Categories sum to this figure. Geostat has no clean single-person-excl-rent basket, so treat as a curated estimate.
NSI Bulgaria — Income, Expenditure and Consumption of Households in 2024 (Household Budget Survey)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- NSI HBS 2024 consumer expenditure per household member = BGN 9,466/yr (COICOP consumption, effectively rent-free — Bulgaria doesn't impute owner rent, ~85% ownership, housing line is utilities). 9,466 ÷ 12 = 788.83 BGN/mo ÷ 1.95583 = €403.32/mo × 1.1399 = $459.75/mo → $460. Household-Budget-Survey basis chosen for peer consistency (matching the capture ratio of the Spain/Czechia figures). Bulgaria is the cheapest of the peer set.
- Notes
- The cheapest vs peers (BG ~$460 < CZ ~$785 < ES ~$941), consistent with income levels. Bulgaria adopted the euro on 1 Jan 2026 (1 EUR = 1.95583 BGN).
Georgian Post + courier service pages (composite)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 3, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Method
- Georgian Post ~500 branches nationwide (1–3 day domestic parcels, some lockers/pickup points); Wolt Drive and Glovo last-mile in Tbilisi/Batumi; DHL/FedEx/UPS present. Dense and reliable in cities; locker density and nationwide same-day coverage thinner than EU leaders → good, not excellent.
Econt and Speedy — Bulgaria's dominant courier networks
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Econt and Speedy form a dense duopoly with nationwide office + automated-locker networks and next-day domestic delivery; cash-on-delivery ('наложен платеж') is the default e-commerce payment method. Fast, cheap, reliable → excellent.
Family
Relocating with a partner and school-age children.
Varna fits better — 3 of 5
IB World Schools directory / IB Georgia association
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 3, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Method
- No IB-authorized school in Batumi as of July 2026 (all Georgian IB schools are in Tbilisi). Private English-language schools exist but none are IB-authorized.
- Notes
- Families needing an IB curriculum currently look to Tbilisi.
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Sep 24, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- Accreditor-verified: the AEFE's own school directory, read on 2026-09-24, lists the Lycée français international de Varna – Charles-Perrault (St Constantine and Helena Resort, 9006 Varna) as a Mission laïque française school with 297 pupils and all 15 of its levels, petite section to terminale, homologated by the French Ministry of Education. The AEFE's Bulgarian list holds two schools: this one and Sofia's Lycée français Victor Hugo, already counted for Sofia.
- Notes
- VERIFIED FLOOR, ±1. The school is in the St Constantine and Helena resort complex, about 8 km north-east of the centre in Varna's Primorski district; NSI lists the resort as a settlement formation of its own within Varna municipality. Not counted: Primary Progressive School 2, which describes itself on its own site as an IB Candidate School for the Primary Years Programme, not yet authorised — ibo.org answered our requests with a Cloudflare challenge on 2026-09-24 and the Internet Archive holds no copy of the school's IB page, so a later authorisation could not be checked. An "International School of Varna" and a "British International School of Varna" described on expat-guide sites could not be confirmed by any accreditor, and isv.bg, the address given for the first, does not resolve. The Oxford International Study Centre programme at the Varna International Education Centre is a boarding and summer-school study centre, not a school accredited by the bodies counted here. Cambridge International's school finder renders only in a browser, so Cambridge-registered schools could not be enumerated.
UNODC (via World Bank mirror) — intentional homicide, Georgia
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2019
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Notes
- 2019 is the latest year UNODC publishes for Georgia. Low by global standards (world average ≈ 5.8); Georgia is widely regarded as very safe for residents. No city-level series is published.
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB, geo=BG)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (1.23). Downward trend from 2.29 in 2008; recent years 2020 0.96, 2021 1.29, 2022 1.11, 2023 1.15, 2024 1.23. Moderate by European standards.
Georgian insurers (Ardi, GPI, Imedi L) — comprehensive-tier plans
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 3, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Method
- Midpoint of comprehensive local plans: Ardi Medi Premium from ~$340/yr up to market comprehensive ~$795/yr (converted at 2.6431 GEL/USD). Expat international plans run higher ($1,000–2,000/yr).
- Notes
- Georgian insurers quote by callback rather than public age-rated engines, so this is a curated market midpoint for local comprehensive cover, not a bound quote.
Curated market survey of Bulgarian voluntary health insurers (2026)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Bulgaria has mandatory public health insurance (НЗОК) with no full private-replacement market, so this is the VOLUNTARY supplementary premium: a comprehensive mid-tier plan (outpatient GP+specialist, labs, imaging, hospitalisation) ~€60/month = €720/yr → $821/yr at 1.1399. Range €30–60/mo (basic) to €60–120/mo (premium with dental/vision).
- Notes
- Supplementary to mandatory public НЗОК, not a replacement (like Austria's Sonderklasse). Main voluntary insurers: DZI, Bulstrad VIG, Generali, Allianz Bulgaria, DallBogg, UNIQA. Indicative premiums, vary with coverage caps and deductibles.
IQAir 2024 World Air Quality Report
Research
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Notes
- Attribution: IQAir. Coastal Batumi is cleaner than Tbilisi (sea breeze, less heating smog), among the least-polluted cities in IQAir's West Asia grouping — still ~2.4× the WHO guideline.
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- Validated (E1a, verification flag 1) 2024 annual mean at station BG0075A "AMS SOU Angel Kanchev-Varna", an urban background site at 43.2244°N 27.9157°E, 1.9 km from the city centre: 10.9899 µg/m³ on 96.45% data coverage, queried from the EEA statistics service on 2026-09-24. It is the only Varna station in the EEA's 2024 PM2.5 statistics. The WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026) carries the same 10.99 µg/m³ for Varna/BGR in 2024 at 96% coverage; its row counts two stations because the second Varna site, BG0083A "AMS Chaika - Varna", reports PM10 but no 2024 PM2.5 annual mean — the two stations' 2024 PM10 means, 25.28 and 22.43, average 23.86, against the WHO row's PM10 of 23.855. Reference year 2024, the year used for Sofia and Plovdiv.
- Notes
- ONE STATION, as for Plovdiv. Varna's figure rests on one urban background site, so it describes the city's background level and says nothing about traffic corridors. The WHO database also holds 2025 — 10.92 µg/m³ at 90% coverage — which is not yet in the EEA's validated statistics (no Bulgarian 2025 PM2.5 rows on 2026-09-24), so 2024 is kept. The series has been flat since 2021: 11.15 (72% coverage), 9.95 (91%), 10.13 (100%), 10.99 (96%); 2019 read 18.55 on 77% coverage. Sofia's figure in this dataset is lower (10.48), but half of it comes from a rural station at 1,321 m on Vitosha: Sofia's one urban PM2.5 station read 12.65 in 2024, above Varna. Plovdiv's single urban station read 16.67. About twice the WHO 2021 guideline of 5 µg/m³, and just above the EU limit of 10 that applies from 2030.
EF EPI 2025 (score 541, rank 35/123 — High band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI (attribution: EF Education First). English is workable in Tbilisi/Batumi tourism and the younger service sector; less so in government and older generations. Russian remains widely understood.
EF EPI 2025 — Bulgaria (score 594, rank 18/123, High band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): Bulgaria ranks #18 of 123, score 594 (global average 488), 'High Proficiency' band. English is broadly workable in Sofia's tech and service sectors and among younger Bulgarians; Bulgarian (Cyrillic) remains essential for administration and daily life outside the capital.
Money & crypto
Optimising tax, banking and crypto rules.
Batumi fits better — 2 of 3
National Bank of Georgia — Virtual Asset Service Providers
Official source
- Data as of
- Jul 1, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Notes
- Individuals pay 0% income tax on crypto gains (Minister of Finance Public Decision N201, 2019 — crypto is not Georgian-source income for individuals) and crypto↔fiat exchange is VAT-exempt. Service providers must register as VASPs with the NBG (regime since 1 July 2023). Very favourable for individual holders, hence legal-friendly.
Official source
- Data as of
- Jul 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Crypto is legal. Individual gains from crypto disposals are taxed as investment income at the 10% flat rate (a 10% deemed-cost deduction makes the effective rate ~9%), declared on Annex 5 of the annual return. MiCA is fully in force EU-wide; crypto-asset service providers must be licensed by the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC), transitional-regime deadline 1 July 2026. Supervisor FSC (fsc.bg); tax authority НАП (nap.bg).
US State Dept 2025 Investment Climate Statement (Georgia) / trade.gov
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Method
- GEL freely convertible (float since 1998; IMF Article VIII since 1996); no capital controls; funds transfer abroad freely (except sanctioned destinations); no routine cash caps or resident foreign-account exit restrictions.
- Notes
- Caveat: since Georgia joined CRS (2024) and post-2022 de-risking, non-resident bank account onboarding has become notably stricter (source-of-funds documentation, some rejections). The FX regime itself is open; the friction is at bank KYC.
Official source
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Composite: Bulgaria adopted the euro on 1 Jan 2026 (fixed 1 EUR = 1.95583 BGN); EU member with full free movement of capital, no capital controls or currency-conversion limits. The only notable restriction is a domestic cash-payment ceiling (Law on Limitation of Cash Payments): payments at/above ~€5,113 (BGN 10,000) must be non-cash — a routine AML measure. The EU-wide €10,000 cash cap applies from 2027. No limits on holding foreign currency or cross-border transfers → 'low'.
SettleMetric tax engine over Tax Code (Small Business Status)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme ge-small-business-1pct at €60,000 = 180,738 GEL (NBG 3.0123 GEL/EUR), below the 500,000 GEL threshold → 1% turnover tax = 1,807 GEL, no mandatory social/pension. Effective burden ≈ 1.0%.
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Best representative freelancer scheme at €60,000, single = свободна професия (scheme bg-svobodna-profesia): 25% deemed expenses → base €45,000; social 27.8% capped at €7,044.43 (max insurable income €2,111.64/mo); 10% tax on €37,955.57 = €3,795.56. Levies €10,839.99 → 18.1%. The ЕООД company chain (10% + 5% dividend) shows a lower headline (~14.5%) but excludes the compulsory owner-manager social insurance, so свободна професия is the honest freelancer burden.
Calm lifestyle
Prioritising safety, air, and an easy daily life.
Varna fits better — 3 of 4
UNODC (via World Bank mirror) — intentional homicide, Georgia
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2019
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Notes
- 2019 is the latest year UNODC publishes for Georgia. Low by global standards (world average ≈ 5.8); Georgia is widely regarded as very safe for residents. No city-level series is published.
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB, geo=BG)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (1.23). Downward trend from 2.29 in 2008; recent years 2020 0.96, 2021 1.29, 2022 1.11, 2023 1.15, 2024 1.23. Moderate by European standards.
IQAir 2024 World Air Quality Report
Research
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Notes
- Attribution: IQAir. Coastal Batumi is cleaner than Tbilisi (sea breeze, less heating smog), among the least-polluted cities in IQAir's West Asia grouping — still ~2.4× the WHO guideline.
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- Validated (E1a, verification flag 1) 2024 annual mean at station BG0075A "AMS SOU Angel Kanchev-Varna", an urban background site at 43.2244°N 27.9157°E, 1.9 km from the city centre: 10.9899 µg/m³ on 96.45% data coverage, queried from the EEA statistics service on 2026-09-24. It is the only Varna station in the EEA's 2024 PM2.5 statistics. The WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026) carries the same 10.99 µg/m³ for Varna/BGR in 2024 at 96% coverage; its row counts two stations because the second Varna site, BG0083A "AMS Chaika - Varna", reports PM10 but no 2024 PM2.5 annual mean — the two stations' 2024 PM10 means, 25.28 and 22.43, average 23.86, against the WHO row's PM10 of 23.855. Reference year 2024, the year used for Sofia and Plovdiv.
- Notes
- ONE STATION, as for Plovdiv. Varna's figure rests on one urban background site, so it describes the city's background level and says nothing about traffic corridors. The WHO database also holds 2025 — 10.92 µg/m³ at 90% coverage — which is not yet in the EEA's validated statistics (no Bulgarian 2025 PM2.5 rows on 2026-09-24), so 2024 is kept. The series has been flat since 2021: 11.15 (72% coverage), 9.95 (91%), 10.13 (100%), 10.99 (96%); 2019 read 18.55 on 77% coverage. Sofia's figure in this dataset is lower (10.48), but half of it comes from a rural station at 1,321 m on Vitosha: Sofia's one urban PM2.5 station read 12.65 in 2024, above Varna. Plovdiv's single urban station read 16.67. About twice the WHO 2021 guideline of 5 µg/m³, and just above the EU limit of 10 that applies from 2030.
Geostat — Households Expenditures survey 2025
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Method
- Geostat 2025 average per-capita monthly consumption (603 GEL) split by the survey's COICOP category shares, with the imputed-housing portion removed, converted at 2.6431 GEL/USD (NBG 2026-07-02). Categories sum to this figure. Geostat has no clean single-person-excl-rent basket, so treat as a curated estimate.
NSI Bulgaria — Income, Expenditure and Consumption of Households in 2024 (Household Budget Survey)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- NSI HBS 2024 consumer expenditure per household member = BGN 9,466/yr (COICOP consumption, effectively rent-free — Bulgaria doesn't impute owner rent, ~85% ownership, housing line is utilities). 9,466 ÷ 12 = 788.83 BGN/mo ÷ 1.95583 = €403.32/mo × 1.1399 = $459.75/mo → $460. Household-Budget-Survey basis chosen for peer consistency (matching the capture ratio of the Spain/Czechia figures). Bulgaria is the cheapest of the peer set.
- Notes
- The cheapest vs peers (BG ~$460 < CZ ~$785 < ES ~$941), consistent with income levels. Bulgaria adopted the euro on 1 Jan 2026 (1 EUR = 1.95583 BGN).
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Method
- Months with mean daily max 15–28°C and precip < 150mm: Apr, May, Jun = 3. Jul–Nov all exceed 150mm precipitation (very wet).
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals (WMO 1991–2020, Varna 15552)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- Months whose mean daily maximum is between 15 and 28 °C and whose precipitation is under 150 mm: Apr (15.5 °C), May (21.2), Jun (26.1), Sep (24.8), Oct (19.0) = 5. July (28.9) and August (29.4) are excluded as too hot, March (11.2) and November (13.2) as too cold. The precipitation test excludes nothing: the wettest month is October at 56 mm.
- Notes
- April only just qualifies, at 15.5 °C. One more pleasant month than Plovdiv (4) and one fewer than Sofia (6), whose 586 m elevation keeps its July under the ceiling.
03
The full comparison
Open any fact to see what it measures, how fresh it is and the complete source trail for both cities.
01
Taxes
01+−Freelancer tax burden% effective burden at €60k/year self-employed profileBatumistronger1Varna18.1
What this measures
Effective total burden (income tax + mandatory social and health contributions) for a solo IT freelancer with €60,000/year revenue and 10% deductible expenses, using the most favourable eligible scheme in the country's tax-schemes data. Computed by the SettleMetric tax engine; recorded as a curated value with the winning scheme id in method.
Batumi
SettleMetric tax engine over Tax Code (Small Business Status)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme ge-small-business-1pct at €60,000 = 180,738 GEL (NBG 3.0123 GEL/EUR), below the 500,000 GEL threshold → 1% turnover tax = 1,807 GEL, no mandatory social/pension. Effective burden ≈ 1.0%.
Varna
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Best representative freelancer scheme at €60,000, single = свободна професия (scheme bg-svobodna-profesia): 25% deemed expenses → base €45,000; social 27.8% capped at €7,044.43 (max insurable income €2,111.64/mo); 10% tax on €37,955.57 = €3,795.56. Levies €10,839.99 → 18.1%. The ЕООД company chain (10% + 5% dividend) shows a lower headline (~14.5%) but excludes the compulsory owner-manager social insurance, so свободна професия is the honest freelancer burden.
02
Legalization
01+−Remote-work legalization easeBatumiLong stay pathVarnastrongerDedicated nomad visa
What this measures
Best available legalization route for a location-independent earner with a median (non-EU, non-US) passport, classified from this country's legalization-paths data: dedicated digital-nomad visa; general freelance/self-employment permit; realistic long-stay path (e.g. renewable temporary residence); only short visa-free/tourist stays; effectively none.
Batumi
Government Ordinance N255 — visa-free entry
Official source
- Data as of
- Jul 3, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Notes
- Exceptionally easy in practice: ~94 nationalities (incl. all EU, US, UK, Ukraine, Russia) may stay visa-free for a full year and register an Individual Entrepreneur with 1% Small Business Status the same day — no residence permit needed. Scored as a long-stay path; there is no formal 'digital nomad visa' and the year of visa-free stay does not itself build toward permanent residence.
Varna
Official source
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Bulgaria created a dedicated digital-nomad residence route via the June 2025 Foreigners Act amendment, opened to applications for 2026 — for non-EU remote workers earning from abroad (income ≥ 50× the previous year's monthly minimum wage, ~€27,500/year). Combined with the 10% flat tax and low cost of living it is one of the EU's most attractive nomad setups. EU/EEA/Swiss citizens simply exercise free movement.
03
Cost of living
01+−Cost of living (single, excl. rent)USD/month, single person, excluding rentBatumi220Varna460
What this measures
Monthly cost of a defined single-person basket (food, transport, utilities, mobile+internet, modest leisure) excluding rent, curated from national statistics office price data and large local retailers' published prices, converted to USD at the ECB rate recorded in fx-rates. The method field of each value itemizes the basket inputs.
Batumi
Geostat — Households Expenditures survey 2025
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Method
- Geostat 2025 average per-capita monthly consumption (603 GEL) split by the survey's COICOP category shares, with the imputed-housing portion removed, converted at 2.6431 GEL/USD (NBG 2026-07-02). Categories sum to this figure. Geostat has no clean single-person-excl-rent basket, so treat as a curated estimate.
Varna
NSI Bulgaria — Income, Expenditure and Consumption of Households in 2024 (Household Budget Survey)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- NSI HBS 2024 consumer expenditure per household member = BGN 9,466/yr (COICOP consumption, effectively rent-free — Bulgaria doesn't impute owner rent, ~85% ownership, housing line is utilities). 9,466 ÷ 12 = 788.83 BGN/mo ÷ 1.95583 = €403.32/mo × 1.1399 = $459.75/mo → $460. Household-Budget-Survey basis chosen for peer consistency (matching the capture ratio of the Spain/Czechia figures). Bulgaria is the cheapest of the peer set.
- Notes
- The cheapest vs peers (BG ~$460 < CZ ~$785 < ES ~$941), consistent with income levels. Bulgaria adopted the euro on 1 Jan 2026 (1 EUR = 1.95583 BGN).
Monthly spending by category (excl. rent)
Geostat — Households Expenditures survey 2025 (category shares)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Method
- Geostat 2025 per-capita consumption shares (food 38.7%, transport 11.4%, healthcare 11.0%, etc.) applied to the ~$220/mo excl-rent base and converted at 2.6431 GEL/USD. Georgia's very high food share is characteristic of the income level. National average — rent shown separately.
NSI Bulgaria — Household Budget Survey 2024 (consumer expenditure by group)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Each NSI 2024 COICOP group (BGN/capita/yr) converted ÷12 ÷1.95583 ×1.1399. Items sum ≈ $460, matching the headline. NSI merges recreation+culture+education and folds restaurants/hotels into food/misc; housing line is utilities only (no rent, per the HBS convention).
04
Housing
Rent by apartment type
Asking rent, central price with outside-centre in parentheses ($/mo).
ss.ge / korter.ge / batumiexpert listing samples (Batumi)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 3, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Method
- Typical long-term asking-rent medians from active listings (portals quote USD), central = Old Boulevard/seaside, outside = inland districts. Small samples — indicative.
- Notes
- Batumi rents swing sharply with the summer tourist season; these are long-term winter/shoulder rates. Asking, not transacted. Room-count convention mapped (a '2-room' listing ≈ a 1-bedroom).
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Sep 24, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- The same portal and the same construction as Sofia: €/m²/month × standard floor areas (studio 30, 1br 40, 2br 60, 3br 85 m²). imoti.net's rental statistics for Varna, read on 2026-09-24 in euros for that day's snapshot, give 1-bedroom asking rents by district: the district imoti.net calls Center averages €9.77/m², and the median of the other 30 districts is €8.385/m² (range €4.00–20.91; the two extremes, an industrial zone and the Sea Garden, are why a median is used rather than a mean). Center 1br: 40 × 9.77 = €390.80; outside: 40 × 8.385 = €335.40. Converted at the ECB reference rate in data/fx-rates.json (EUR 1 = USD 1.1534, 2026-08-13): studio $338 / $290, 1br $451 / $387, 2br $676 / $580, 3br $958 / $822.
- Notes
- STANDARDISED, NOT TYPICAL. A flat €/m² across sizes, as for Sofia and Plovdiv, prices a 40 m² one-bedroom; the actual average asking rent imoti.net showed the same day for a Center one-bedroom was €611, for a flat of about 63 m², and for Center studios, two- and three-bedroom flats €410, €855 and €874. The district figures are the portal's automatic averages over agency listings and come without listing counts, and single rows are visibly thin — a two-bedroom average of €23,174 in Kaysieva Gradina is plainly a mistyped listing — which is a second reason for medians. Cross-check: Investropa's Bulgarian rent guide, updated 2026-09-21, puts Varna 'closer to €10' per m². Sofia and Plovdiv were converted at an earlier rate (1.1399), about 1.2% below this one. Bulgarian rents are quoted in euros (euro adopted 1 January 2026).
05
Safety
01+−Homicide rateintentional homicides per 100,000/yearBatumi2Varnastronger1.2
What this measures
Intentional homicide victims per 100,000 population, latest available year. Country level: UNODC national series. City level: official municipal/police statistics where published; otherwise null (country value shown as country-level).
Batumi
UNODC (via World Bank mirror) — intentional homicide, Georgia
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2019
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Notes
- 2019 is the latest year UNODC publishes for Georgia. Low by global standards (world average ≈ 5.8); Georgia is widely regarded as very safe for residents. No city-level series is published.
Varna
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB, geo=BG)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (1.23). Downward trend from 2.29 in 2008; recent years 2020 0.96, 2021 1.29, 2022 1.11, 2023 1.15, 2024 1.23. Moderate by European standards.
06
Climate
01+−Climate comfortpleasant months/yearBatumi3Varnastronger5
What this measures
Number of months whose 1991–2020 climate normals satisfy: mean daily maximum between 15°C and 28°C and monthly precipitation under 150mm. Computed from the city's climate-normals indicator; the raw normals are stored alongside so users can judge by their own taste.
Batumi
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Method
- Months with mean daily max 15–28°C and precip < 150mm: Apr, May, Jun = 3. Jul–Nov all exceed 150mm precipitation (very wet).
Varna
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals (WMO 1991–2020, Varna 15552)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- Months whose mean daily maximum is between 15 and 28 °C and whose precipitation is under 150 mm: Apr (15.5 °C), May (21.2), Jun (26.1), Sep (24.8), Oct (19.0) = 5. July (28.9) and August (29.4) are excluded as too hot, March (11.2) and November (13.2) as too cold. The precipitation test excludes nothing: the wettest month is October at 56 mm.
- Notes
- April only just qualifies, at 15.5 °C. One more pleasant month than Plovdiv (4) and one fewer than Sofia (6), whose 586 m elevation keeps its July under the ceiling.
02+−Air quality (PM2.5)µg/m³, annual mean PM2.5Batumi11.9Varnastronger11
What this measures
Annual mean fine-particulate (PM2.5) concentration for the city, latest available year. Anchors follow the WHO 2021 guideline (5 µg/m³ → 10) through the EU limit value territory (25 µg/m³ → 2). Preferred source: European Environment Agency city-level air quality data; outside Europe: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database or the national monitoring network.
Batumi
IQAir 2024 World Air Quality Report
Research
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Notes
- Attribution: IQAir. Coastal Batumi is cleaner than Tbilisi (sea breeze, less heating smog), among the least-polluted cities in IQAir's West Asia grouping — still ~2.4× the WHO guideline.
Varna
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- Validated (E1a, verification flag 1) 2024 annual mean at station BG0075A "AMS SOU Angel Kanchev-Varna", an urban background site at 43.2244°N 27.9157°E, 1.9 km from the city centre: 10.9899 µg/m³ on 96.45% data coverage, queried from the EEA statistics service on 2026-09-24. It is the only Varna station in the EEA's 2024 PM2.5 statistics. The WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026) carries the same 10.99 µg/m³ for Varna/BGR in 2024 at 96% coverage; its row counts two stations because the second Varna site, BG0083A "AMS Chaika - Varna", reports PM10 but no 2024 PM2.5 annual mean — the two stations' 2024 PM10 means, 25.28 and 22.43, average 23.86, against the WHO row's PM10 of 23.855. Reference year 2024, the year used for Sofia and Plovdiv.
- Notes
- ONE STATION, as for Plovdiv. Varna's figure rests on one urban background site, so it describes the city's background level and says nothing about traffic corridors. The WHO database also holds 2025 — 10.92 µg/m³ at 90% coverage — which is not yet in the EEA's validated statistics (no Bulgarian 2025 PM2.5 rows on 2026-09-24), so 2024 is kept. The series has been flat since 2021: 11.15 (72% coverage), 9.95 (91%), 10.13 (100%), 10.99 (96%); 2019 read 18.55 on 77% coverage. Sofia's figure in this dataset is lower (10.48), but half of it comes from a rural station at 1,321 m on Vitosha: Sofia's one urban PM2.5 station read 12.65 in 2024, above Varna. Plovdiv's single urban station read 16.67. About twice the WHO 2021 guideline of 5 µg/m³, and just above the EU limit of 10 that applies from 2030.
07
Healthcare
01+−Private healthcare costUSD/year, comprehensive private insurance premium, healthy 35-year-oldBatumistronger450Varna820
What this measures
Median of at least three publicly quoted annual premiums for comprehensive private medical insurance (outpatient + inpatient, ~$100k coverage, small deductible) for a healthy 35-year-old resident foreigner, from local and international insurers. Method field lists the insurers quoted.
Batumi
Georgian insurers (Ardi, GPI, Imedi L) — comprehensive-tier plans
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 3, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Method
- Midpoint of comprehensive local plans: Ardi Medi Premium from ~$340/yr up to market comprehensive ~$795/yr (converted at 2.6431 GEL/USD). Expat international plans run higher ($1,000–2,000/yr).
- Notes
- Georgian insurers quote by callback rather than public age-rated engines, so this is a curated market midpoint for local comprehensive cover, not a bound quote.
Varna
Curated market survey of Bulgarian voluntary health insurers (2026)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Bulgaria has mandatory public health insurance (НЗОК) with no full private-replacement market, so this is the VOLUNTARY supplementary premium: a comprehensive mid-tier plan (outpatient GP+specialist, labs, imaging, hospitalisation) ~€60/month = €720/yr → $821/yr at 1.1399. Range €30–60/mo (basic) to €60–120/mo (premium with dental/vision).
- Notes
- Supplementary to mandatory public НЗОК, not a replacement (like Austria's Sonderklasse). Main voluntary insurers: DZI, Bulstrad VIG, Generali, Allianz Bulgaria, DallBogg, UNIQA. Indicative premiums, vary with coverage caps and deductibles.
08
Money & crypto
01+−Crypto regulationBatumistrongerLegal friendlyVarnaLegal regulated
What this measures
Own classification of the legal status of holding, trading and cashing out cryptocurrency for individuals: legal-friendly (legal with clear, favourable rules or explicit tax exemptions), legal-regulated (legal under standard licensing/AML and taxation), restricted (partial bans: payments or banking access prohibited), banned (holding/trading prohibited). Classified from national regulators' and central banks' official positions.
Batumi
National Bank of Georgia — Virtual Asset Service Providers
Official source
- Data as of
- Jul 1, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Notes
- Individuals pay 0% income tax on crypto gains (Minister of Finance Public Decision N201, 2019 — crypto is not Georgian-source income for individuals) and crypto↔fiat exchange is VAT-exempt. Service providers must register as VASPs with the NBG (regime since 1 July 2023). Very favourable for individual holders, hence legal-friendly.
Varna
Official source
- Data as of
- Jul 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Crypto is legal. Individual gains from crypto disposals are taxed as investment income at the 10% flat rate (a 10% deemed-cost deduction makes the effective rate ~9%), declared on Annex 5 of the annual return. MiCA is fully in force EU-wide; crypto-asset service providers must be licensed by the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC), transitional-regime deadline 1 July 2026. Supervisor FSC (fsc.bg); tax authority НАП (nap.bg).
02+−Financial control levelBatumiLowVarnaLow
What this measures
Own composite of state control over personal money flows: currency/capital controls (IMF AREAER), restrictions on foreign accounts and transfers, mandatory income declaration scope for residents, cash payment limits, banking access for foreigners. Low = free movement of personal funds and easy non-resident banking; very-high = strict capital controls and pervasive reporting. Method field on each value lists the inputs used.
Batumi
US State Dept 2025 Investment Climate Statement (Georgia) / trade.gov
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Method
- GEL freely convertible (float since 1998; IMF Article VIII since 1996); no capital controls; funds transfer abroad freely (except sanctioned destinations); no routine cash caps or resident foreign-account exit restrictions.
- Notes
- Caveat: since Georgia joined CRS (2024) and post-2022 de-risking, non-resident bank account onboarding has become notably stricter (source-of-funds documentation, some rejections). The FX regime itself is open; the friction is at bank KYC.
Varna
Official source
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Composite: Bulgaria adopted the euro on 1 Jan 2026 (fixed 1 EUR = 1.95583 BGN); EU member with full free movement of capital, no capital controls or currency-conversion limits. The only notable restriction is a domestic cash-payment ceiling (Law on Limitation of Cash Payments): payments at/above ~€5,113 (BGN 10,000) must be non-cash — a routine AML measure. The EU-wide €10,000 cash cap applies from 2027. No limits on holding foreign currency or cross-border transfers → 'low'.
09
Infrastructure
01+−Domestic delivery qualityBatumiGoodVarnastrongerExcellent
What this measures
Quality of in-country parcel delivery. excellent = nationwide next-day widely available, dense parcel-locker network, real-time tracking standard; good = 1–3 day delivery, lockers in major cities; basic = reliable but slow (3–7 days), mostly to-door or post-office pickup; poor = unreliable delivery, street addresses often unusable, informal workarounds common. Classified from official service/coverage data of the national postal operator and the two largest private carriers; inputs itemized in each value's method field.
Batumi
Georgian Post + courier service pages (composite)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 3, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Method
- Georgian Post ~500 branches nationwide (1–3 day domestic parcels, some lockers/pickup points); Wolt Drive and Glovo last-mile in Tbilisi/Batumi; DHL/FedEx/UPS present. Dense and reliable in cities; locker density and nationwide same-day coverage thinner than EU leaders → good, not excellent.
Varna
Econt and Speedy — Bulgaria's dominant courier networks
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Econt and Speedy form a dense duopoly with nationwide office + automated-locker networks and next-day domestic delivery; cash-on-delivery ('наложен платеж') is the default e-commerce payment method. Fast, cheap, reliable → excellent.
02+−International delivery easeBatumiMinor frictionVarnaMinor friction
What this measures
Ease of receiving goods from abroad. seamless = major international carriers deliver door-to-door, meaningful duty-free de-minimis threshold, customs clearance predictable in days; minor-friction = carriers present but low de-minimis, extra paperwork or routine delays; significant-friction = frequent customs holds, high brokerage fees, some marketplaces refuse to ship; unreliable = parcels regularly lost or blocked, informal import channels dominate. De-minimis thresholds and clearance rules from the national customs authority (official source, cite the regulation); carrier presence from carriers' official pages.
Batumi
Revenue Service of Georgia — customs procedures
Official source
- Data as of
- Jul 3, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Notes
- Georgia is outside the EU/EAEU. Personal-import de minimis: 300 GEL (≈ $113) and ≤ 30 kg, once per calendar month, exempt; above that, 18% import VAT + 0–12% duty + a small customs fee. All major integrators (DHL, FedEx, UPS, Aramex) present. Predictable but the low monthly de-minimis cap adds friction.
Varna
European Commission — removal of the €150 duty-free import threshold (EU-wide, from 1 July 2026)
Official source
- Data as of
- Jul 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Intra-EU shipping is frictionless (single market/customs union). From 1 July 2026 the EU removes the €150 duty-free threshold for non-EU imports (a transitional flat per-item customs duty applies; VAT already collected since 2021). Minor friction on non-EU inbound parcels — the same EU regime as other member states.
03+−Internet speedMbps, median fixed downloadBatumi15.8Varnastronger42.8
What this measures
Median fixed-broadband download speed over the trailing 6 months from M-Lab NDT open data (CC0), aggregated at country or city level. Not comparable with Ookla figures (different test methodology) — do not mix sources within this criterion.
Batumi
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Georgia
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Median of 343 daily country medians (download_MED), 47,852 download tests (2023 — latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API; the 2024 file is only Jan–Mar, and 2025/2026 are not yet published). Georgia sits under continent code AS in M-Lab.
- Notes
- M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads well below Ookla-style figures — comparable only within this criterion. Cross-check: the World Bank's July-2024 median of ~20 Mbps (Ookla-derived, so not citable here) is consistent with this once the M-Lab-reads-low offset is accounted for. Speeds are trending up (~10%/yr: M-Lab yearly medians ran 9.7 in 2020 → 15.8 in 2023), so multi-year pooling would understate current speed; the latest full year is used instead. GNCC/comcom.ge publishes operator quality-of-service measurements (e.g. Magticom fixed ~56 Mb/s advertised-tier average, 2025/26) but no national measured median, and its own speed commentary relies on the same Ookla data we can't redistribute.
Varna
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Bulgaria
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 343 daily country-median download values for BG in 2023 = 42.85 Mbps (139,790 download tests). M-Lab NDT is single-stream and understates real line speeds — Bulgaria has very fast, cheap fibre (commonly 100–1000 Mbps advertised) — comparable only within this criterion. 2023 is the latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API.
- Notes
- Bulgaria is known for fast, inexpensive fixed broadband; the M-Lab single-stream median is used only for cross-country comparability on one consistent method.
10
Language
01+−English proficiencyBatumiHighVarnaHigh
What this measures
Own banding of how far English gets a resident in daily life (government offices, healthcare, housing, services). Informed by EF EPI band (research source, cited with attribution, not republished) plus official language status and service-sector realities. Values are our bands, not EF scores.
Batumi
EF EPI 2025 (score 541, rank 35/123 — High band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI (attribution: EF Education First). English is workable in Tbilisi/Batumi tourism and the younger service sector; less so in government and older generations. Russian remains widely understood.
Varna
EF EPI 2025 — Bulgaria (score 594, rank 18/123, High band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): Bulgaria ranks #18 of 123, score 594 (global average 488), 'High Proficiency' band. English is broadly workable in Sofia's tech and service sectors and among younger Bulgarians; Bulgarian (Cyrillic) remains essential for administration and daily life outside the capital.
11
Education
01+−International schoolsaccredited international schools, countBatumi0Varnastronger1
What this measures
Count of international schools in the metro area accredited by or member of IB, CIS, COBIS, or an equivalent national-curriculum-abroad body (verified against the accreditor's public registry, not aggregator sites).
Batumi
IB World Schools directory / IB Georgia association
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 3, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 3, 2026
- Method
- No IB-authorized school in Batumi as of July 2026 (all Georgian IB schools are in Tbilisi). Private English-language schools exist but none are IB-authorized.
- Notes
- Families needing an IB curriculum currently look to Tbilisi.
Varna
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Sep 24, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- Accreditor-verified: the AEFE's own school directory, read on 2026-09-24, lists the Lycée français international de Varna – Charles-Perrault (St Constantine and Helena Resort, 9006 Varna) as a Mission laïque française school with 297 pupils and all 15 of its levels, petite section to terminale, homologated by the French Ministry of Education. The AEFE's Bulgarian list holds two schools: this one and Sofia's Lycée français Victor Hugo, already counted for Sofia.
- Notes
- VERIFIED FLOOR, ±1. The school is in the St Constantine and Helena resort complex, about 8 km north-east of the centre in Varna's Primorski district; NSI lists the resort as a settlement formation of its own within Varna municipality. Not counted: Primary Progressive School 2, which describes itself on its own site as an IB Candidate School for the Primary Years Programme, not yet authorised — ibo.org answered our requests with a Cloudflare challenge on 2026-09-24 and the Internet Archive holds no copy of the school's IB page, so a later authorisation could not be checked. An "International School of Varna" and a "British International School of Varna" described on expat-guide sites could not be confirmed by any accreditor, and isv.bg, the address given for the first, does not resolve. The Oxford International Study Centre programme at the Varna International Education Centre is a boarding and summer-school study centre, not a school accredited by the bodies counted here. Cambridge International's school finder renders only in a browser, so Cambridge-registered schools could not be enumerated.