Bulgaria holds a 85–15 advantage over North Macedonia on the Relative Advantage Index, a decisive margin.
The margin is driven by military spending (87% of the combined total, $2.6bn) and economic size (GDP) (87% of the combined total, $113bn).
1 factor — nuclear warheads — could not be scored because the figure is unpublished for at least one side. Those factors are excluded and the remaining weights renormalised, never substituted.
| Factor | Bulgaria | Share | North Macedonia | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Military spending SIPRI Milex | $2.6bn | 87%13% | $375m | 33% |
Economic size (GDP) World Bank WDI | $113bn | 87%13% | $17.0bn | 27% |
Active personnel COW NMC | 37.0k | 82%18% | 8.0k | 20% |
Logistics & power projection OurAirports | 9 | 82%18% | 2 | 20% |
Shares are each side's portion of the combined total for that factor. Weights are renormalised across the factors both sides publish — see the methodology. Data read 2026-08-04.
Every combination inside the top 30 of the Composite Power Index.
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