Moving to Sofia

In our series of short blogs on moving between different international locations, we highlight cost of living and other major differences likely to be experienced.
Today we look at moving to Sofia in Bulgaria from Belmopan in Belize. In Belmopan people speak English (official), Spanish, Mayan, Garifuna (Carib) and Creole. In Sofia people speak Bulgarian.
Belmopan is the capital of Belize. Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria.

Belmopan is the seat of government. As a result many of its inhabitants work for the national government in various administrative or technical roles. Belmopan currently has business establishments, international banks, several local financial institutions, a modern bus terminal and market complex.
Sofia is the major economic center of Bulgaria and home to most major Bulgarian and international companies operating in Bulgaria. Sofia is also the country's financial hub.

The overall cost of living rank in Belmopan is 274 out of 300 global locations, which equates it with low cost of living locations. An expatriate moving from Belmopan to Sofia which has an overall cost of living rank of 244, which equates it with low cost of living locations, will experience a change in cost of living of 7.8%.
In terms of the hardship people are likely to experience, assessed in global terms, Sofia is ranked as a high degree of hardship location with a hardship index of 30% compared to Belmopan with a hardship index of 40% which is an extreme hardship location.

Source: http://www.xpatulator.com as at July 2011.