ICT usage and e-commerce in enterprises - 2025

Access and use of the internet

In 2025, 96.3% of non-financial enterprises with 10 or more persons employed had internet access. Fixed internet connection was available in 88.0% of the enterprises and the maximum download speed was more than 100 Mbps in 54.7% of the enterprises. Of the companies with 250 or more persons employed, 81.9% had download speed higher than 100 Mbps, and 20.7% had speed more than 1 Gbps.

The relative share of persons employed who had access to the internet was 44.8%. The highest number of persons employed who used the internet was found in sector ‘Information and communication’ (92.5%), and the lowest number - in sector ‘Construction’ (28.9%).

Every second enterprise (49.7%) had a website, and among the companies with 250 or more persons employed the relative share was 85.7%. On the website, enterprises most often provided users with description of goods or services and price information (38.7%), as well as website’s content available in at least two languages - 25.1%.

In 2025, 41.5% of the companies used social media (Facebook, Instagram, X, Snapchat, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, Xing, Viadeo, etc.) to develop their business and enlarge their internet presence. Relative share in the large enterprises with 250 and more persons employed was 69.8%, while in small (10 - 49 persons employed) and in medium-sized companies (50 - 249 persons employed), this share was 38.7% and 52.5%, respectively.

Electronic commerce (e-commerce)^[1]

In 2024, 16.2% of the enterprises sold goods or services online and the turnover of e-commerce was 7.6% of the total turnover of the enterprises. Relative share of the companies, which had web sales via their own website or app, was 11.6% and of those using e-commerce marketplaces for trading goods or services such as Booking.com, TimoCom, eBay, Amazon, Alibaba, eMAG, Glovo, Takeaway, Pop Up, etc. - 7.1%. EDI-type sales of goods or services had 1.9% of the enterprises.

Of the enterprises that had web sales, 97.0% sold goods and services to customers in Bulgaria, 37.7% - to customers in EU countries and 21.4% - to other countries.

Over a five-year period (2020 - 2024), the relative share of the enterprises that had e-commerce sales of goods or services increased by 4.4 percentage points.

^[1] The data on e-commerce from the survey on ICT usage in enterprises in 2025, refer to the previous calendar year.

Artificial intelligence (AI)

In 2025, enterprises using any Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology were 8.5%, with their relative share increased by 2.0 percentage points compared to the previous year. The use of these technologies was most common among the companies with 250 or more persons employed - 26.2%.

AI technologies were most frequently applied by the companies in sector ‘Information and communication’ (42.0%), followed by those in sector ‘Professional, scientific and technical activities’ - 26.4%. The fewest enterprises used AI technologies in sector ‘Construction’ - 3.0%.

The AI technologies that most companies implemented in their operations, were those for performing analysis of written language (58.1%^[1]), followed by:

• AI technologies generating pictures, videos, sound/audio - 52.9%;
• AI technologies automating different workflows or assisting in decision making - 44.0%;
• AI technologies generating written, spoken language - 37.7%;
• AI technologies converting spoken language into machine-readable format - 31.2%;
• AI technologies identifying objects or persons - 28.1%;
• machine learning for data analysis - 26.5%.

The main purposes for which enterprises used AI technologies were related to marketing or sales (36.1%) and organization of business administration processes or management - 32.5%.

Of the enterprises that did not use AI technologies, 5.6% indicated that they have considered implementing them into their work processes. The main obstacle for most of them (72.7%^[2]) was the lack of relevant expertise in this area, and for 55.7% the costs seemed too high. For 51.8% there was an incompatibility with the existing equipment, software or systems, while 50.3% were concerned about the lack of clarity about the legal consequences.

Data utilisation and analytics

In 2025, 26.6% of the companies used enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. The share of enterprises that had a customer relationship management (CRM) application was smaller - 11.9%, as well as of those using business intelligence (BI) software - 6.8%.

^[1] The relative shares were calculated on the basis of enterprises using AI technologies.

^[2] The relative shares were calculated on the basis of enterprises that considered using AI technologies.

More than a quarter (27.1%) of the companies performed data analytics, and among the enterprises with 250 or more persons employed the relative share was 63.4%. 22.5% of the companies preferred to have data analysed by their own employees, while 9.4% outsourced this activity to an external enterprise or organization.

Enterprises performed data analytics on data from the following sources:

• transaction records such as sale details, payment records - 76.6%^[1];
• data about customers such as purchasing information, location, preferences, customer reviews, searches - 57.6%;
• government authorities’ open data - 45.4%;
• data from social media - 37.2%;
• web data - 34.1%;
• data from the use of portable devices or vehicles - 32.2%;
• data from smart devices or sensors - 18.4%;
• satellite data - 13.1%.

Use of cloud computing services

In 2025, 17.8% of the enterprises used paid cloud computing services to reduce their hardware and software costs. Relative share in the large enterprises with 250 and more persons employed was 49.1%, while in small (10 - 49 persons employed) and in medium-sized companies (50 - 249 persons employed), this share was 14.7% and 30.1%, respectively.

Main users of cloud services were the enterprises in sector ‘Information and communication’ - 56.2%, and least companies used these services in sector ‘Construction’ - 8.9%.

The most commonly used cloud computing service was the e-mail (82.6%^[2]), followed by:

• storage of files - 71.3%;
• office software - 64.2%;
• hosting of database(s) - 63.6%;
• security software applications - 55.5%;
• finance and accounting software applications - 45.0%;
• ERP software - 36.1%.

ICT and the environment

In 2025, 10.0% of the enterprises used ICT systems or solutions to reduce energy consumption, and 7.6% - to reduce the materials used or to enhance the use of recycled materials.

Almost half of the companies (48.6%) kept the ICT equipment (computers, monitors, printers, mobile phones, etc.) that they no longer use for spare parts or due to concerns about sensitive information being disclosed. A smaller proportion (44.6%) of the enterprises disposed it of in electronic waste collection or recycling, and 19.7% sold it, returned it to a leasing enterprise, or donated it.

^[1] The relative shares were calculated on the basis of enterprises performing data analytics by own employees.

^[2] The relative shares were calculated on the basis of enterprises using paid cloud computing services.

Methodological notes

The survey on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) usage and e-commerce in enterprises is a part of the European statistical programme and has been carried out annually in Bulgaria according to the Commission implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/1883. The survey was jointly financed by the NSI and by the European Commission under a signed agreement between the two institutions. The main purpose of the survey was to obtain reliable and comparable data, which reflect the dissemination and usage of ICT at national and European level. The survey was representative, as a stratified random sample of enterprises from the non-financial sector with 10 or more persons employed was used. The survey method was an online questionnaire which enterprises were invited by e-mail to fill-in. The 2025 questionnaire comprised several topics like availability of access to the internet in the enterprises, e-commerce, data utilisation and analytics, use of cloud computing services, Artificial Intelligence, ICT and the environment, etc.

Fixed internet connection includes ADSL, SDSL, VDSL, fibre optics technology (FTTH), cable technology, LAN, high capacity leased lines, fixed wireless access connections (e.g. satellite connection, public Wi-Fi connection), etc.

EDI-type e-commerce are sales or purchases made via EDI-type messages in an agreed or standard format suitable for automated processing (e.g. EDIFACT, XML, UBL). Usually, EDI-type e-commerce is operated between enterprises.

Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to systems that use technologies such as: text mining, computer vision, speech recognition, natural language generation, machine learning, deep learning, etc. to gather and/or use data to predict, recommend or decide, with varying levels of autonomy, the best action to achieve specific goals.

ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is a software used to manage resources of the enterprise by sharing information among different functional areas (e.g. accounting, planning, production, marketing, etc.).

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is a software for managing and facilitating communication with customers, analyzing customer information for marketing purposes, tracking their interests and purchasing habits.

BI (Business Intelligence) software accesses, transforms and analyses data and information from internal or external sources and presents analytical findings in reports, summaries, dashboards, graphs, charts and maps, to provide users with detailed insights for decision-making and strategic planning.

More information and data from surveys on Information and Communications Technologies usage in enterprises can be found on the NSI’s website and in Information System ‘Infostat’.