site.btaOver Half of 15-year-olds in Bulgaria Have Bank Account

Just over half of 15-year-olds in Bulgaria have a bank account and 47% of them have a debit or credit card. A total of 85% of children at this age talk at least once a month with their parents about money and things they want to buy, and some 80% discuss shopping online, according to a global survey conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on financial literacy among students in 20 countries around the world, the Education and Science Ministry said in a press release on Thursday.

The study is part of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The results were presented in Paris by OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann and Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills at OECD.

Bulgaria took part in the survey for the second time, and its students' results are comparable to those of the previous edition, PISA 2018.

Nearly half of 15-year-olds in Bulgaria say that they have learned about wages, budgeting, entrepreneurship, bank loans in school in the previous 12 months and still remember what these terms mean. A total of 29% report that they have learned what an exchange rate is and 26% know what compound interest is. Students familiar with these terms, as well as those who have their own bank account, performed better on the survey.

15-year-olds in Belgium show the highest level of financial literacy, followed by their peers in Denmark and Canada. Bulgaria ranks 15th in the survey.