The health status of people in Bulgaria has improved more slowly than in other EU countries, as shown by persistently low life expectancy.
Cardiovascular diseases and cancer cause more than four-fifths of all deaths. Furthermore, vast regional inequalities exist as exemplified by up to six-fold differences in infant mortality across regions.
Bulgaria also has large differences in health status between socioeconomic groups.
The difference in life expectancy by socioeconomic factors, such as level of education, is particularly large in Bulgaria. Life expectancy at birth for university-educated Bulgarians is seven years higher
than for those with no more than lower secondary education.
