| Military branches | Bulgarian Armed Forces: Land Forces (Army), Naval Forces, Bulgarian Air Forces (Voennovazdushni Sili, VVS), Joint Special Forces; Ministry of Interior: Border Guards (2021) |
| Military service age and obligation | 18-27 years of age for voluntary military service; conscription ended in 2007; service obligation 6-9 months (2019) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.6% of GDP (2020 est.) 3.15% of GDP (2019) 1.45% of GDP (2018) 1.23% of GDP (2017) 1.25% of GDP (2016) |
| Military and security service personnel strengths | the Bulgarian Armed Forces have approximately 30,000 active duty personnel (16,000 Army; 4,000 Navy; 7,000 Air Force; 3,000 other, joint staff, support) (2021) |
| Military equipment inventories and acquisitions | the Bulgarian Armed Forces inventory consists primarily of Soviet-era equipment, although in recent years Bulgaria has procured limited amounts of more modern weapons systems from Western countries, including France, Italy, Norway, and the US (2020) |
| Military deployments | 120 Afghanistan (NATO) (2021) |
| Military - note | Bulgaria officially became a member of NATO in 2004 |
Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021
