Every time the budget starts to crack, the same mantra appears on the political scene: "We will cut the administration." It sounds decisive, brings applause and creates the feeling that someone will finally fight the "army of officials". However, the numbers say something completely different. Bulgaria has nearly 570 thousand people in the public sector, but the real state administration in ministries, state agencies, commissions and central administrative structures is only about 56 thousand people, and in municipal and regional administrations the number of employees is only 36 thousand. All the rest are teachers, doctors, nurses, police officers, military personnel, social workers, workers in social homes, librarians, museum specialists and dozens of other professions, without which the state simply stops functioning.
And this is where the political hypocritical game begins.
And then the political magic begins - the concepts of "budget sector" and "state administration" are mixed up to make it seem like someone is going to make a revolution, when in fact they are talking about layoffs in a relatively small part of the public system.
Let's do a simple calculation.
If 10% of these approximately 56 thousand people in the central administration are laid off, this means approximately 5,600 employees. The political effect will be enormous - press conferences, fanfare, slogans about the "bloated state". However, the financial effect will be far more modest than suggested. The thesis that if civil servants start paying themselves insurance, the budget will almost certainly "come out in the black". This is a pure accounting illusion. The state is not finding a new source of revenue - it is simply moving money from one pocket to another. This does not create miraculous billions for the consolidated budget.
The real problem is different. In Bulgaria, a convenient political legend has been sold for years - that the state is poor because there are many civil servants.
However, statistics show otherwise. Of the nearly 570 thousand people in the public sector, about 90% are not "civil servants", but people who teach our children, treat the sick, maintain public order, protect the borders or take care of the social system. Calling all of them "administration" is either a misunderstanding of elementary facts or a deliberate manipulation.
Of course no one is saying that the administration should not be optimized. On the contrary - there are duplicate functions, unnecessary bureaucracy and entire structures that can be digitized or restructured. But real reform means analyzing functions, e-management and eliminating unnecessary processes, not mechanically cutting percentages to look good on TV news.
Because if reform is limited to releasing a few thousand officials and declaring victory over the “bloated state“, this is not reform. This is political PR disguised as economic policy. And when numbers are used more for suggestions than for analysis, society is once again left with the feeling that someone has solved the problem - while in fact they have only changed the title of the press conference.
God-anointed law enforcement agencies - what is the reason for the deafening silence
No one is seriously talking about reform in the Ministry of Internal Affairs works, DANS, DATO, State Agency “Intelligence“ (DAR) and Service “Military Intelligence“. No one talks about optimization in the Ministry of Defense. The topic is taboo there. Why? Because these are the largest power structures of the state, with a huge administrative apparatus, with political influence and tens of thousands of voters. With thousands of appointed “our people“ at the top. There, every reform carries political risk. And politicians do not like risk. They love influence.
It is much easier to direct the spotlight at those 56 thousand officials in the central administration and declare that they are the ones to blame for the budget deficit. It sounds good. But it is convenient, not true.
Even more interesting is something else. In recent years, it has often become a practice in the power departments to appoint people along political lines, to inflate structures, to create new directorates and departments. Not because the state always needs them, but because every government needs loyal appointments. That is why no one dares to open this topic. There are too many “friends“, sorry – interests there.
And no, we are not talking about ordinary police officers, our soldiers, firefighters, 112 emergency workers. We are not talking about the people who serve us and our Motherland with dignity and proudly raised heads. We should thank them for fulfilling their duty to society, to all of us.
We are talking about the “ulcer” in these systems – the anointed appointees with the highest salaries and zero contribution to citizens, and often with outright harm to the state.
A real reform would look completely different. It would start with a full audit of all state structures – including the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, special services, agencies, municipal administrations and the central administration, of course. It would analyze where there is duplication of functions, where there are unnecessary units and where technologies can replace bureaucracy. But such a conversation requires political courage and honesty.
That is why instead of reform we get convenient propaganda.
The impression is created that the state will be saved if a few thousand civil servants are laid off, while tens of thousands of employees in law enforcement agencies remain outside any debate. This creates two categories of civil servants – some are constantly blamed for all the budget problems, while others seem politically untouchable. And the division is there, and the benefits of it are for those in power and the oligarchs, not for working people.
And if someone really wants to talk about reform, let's start with a simple question: why are the scissors always aimed at the smallest part of the state machine, and never at the largest and most protected structures? Until there is an honest answer to this question, any talk about “optimization of the administration“ will remain what it is today – a political spectacle, not a real reform.
Based on the latest official data, the picture looks approximately like this:
Central administration (ministries, agencies, commissions, territorial administrations, special administrative structures, etc.) – 55,998
Municipal administrations – 35,015
Regional administrations – 1,004
Specialized territorial administrations – about 6,400 (NRA, RIA, RIEW, RHI, etc.)
Ministry of Interior – about 50-52 thousand employees (total staff)
Ministry of Defense and the Bulgarian Army – about 37-40 thousand people (military personnel and civilians)
Education – total 157,579 in the public sector
– school education – about 90-95 thousand
– higher education – about 30-35 thousand
– kindergartens and others – about 30 thousand
Health and social activities (public sector) – 139,490
Culture, museums, libraries, theaters, sports – 15,608
What the data show
Only people who are directly supported by the budget in the main public systems are approximately:
• state administration – 56 thousand
• territorial administration – 42 thousand
• Ministry of Internal Affairs – about 52 thousand
• defense – about 39 thousand
• education – 158 thousand
• health and social activities – 139 thousand
• culture and sports – 16 thousand.
This makes about 500-510 thousand people, not including state-owned enterprises, the judiciary, the Bulgarian National Bank, the National Social Insurance Fund, the National Health Insurance Fund and other public institutions and structures. Separately, the NSI reports an average of 569,271 employed in the public sector in 2025, which includes all public institutions and budget organizations.
The most important conclusion
Of these nearly 570 thousand people, the classic state administration (ministries, agencies, commissions and other central administrative structures) is only about 56 thousand people.
That is:
• about 10% of all employed in the public sector are civil servants and workers in the central administration;
• the remaining 90% are teachers, doctors, medical specialists, police officers, military personnel, social workers, cultural figures and other employees of the public
system.
This distinction is important because in public debate the concepts of “budgetary sector“ and “state administration“ are often mixed up, and they are not the same. And they never have been. And we as a society cannot exist without either of these systems. And we never will.