Global InformationEconomy of Bulgaria information
From top to bottom, left to right: Business Park Sofia, Trakia Economic Zone, Tourism in Bulgaria, Bulgarian National Bank | |
| Currency | Bulgarian lev (BGN) |
|---|---|
Fiscal year | Calendar year |
Trade organisations | EU, WTO and BSEC |
Country group |
|
| Statistics | |
| Population |  6,447,710 (2022)[3] |
| GDP |
|
| GDP rank |
|
GDP growth |
|
GDP per capita |  *$17,320 (nominal, 2024)[4]
|
GDP per capita rank |
|
GDP by sector |
|
Inflation (CPI) |  8.5% (2023)[4] |
Population below poverty line |
|
Gini coefficient | 38.4 medium (2022)[10] |
Human Development Index |
|
Labour force |
|
Labour force by occupation |
|
| Unemployment |
|
Average gross salary | BGN 2,013/ €1,029 / $1,110 monthly (January 2024) |
Average net salary | BGN 1,608 / €806 / $870 monthly (January 2024) |
Main industries | electricity; tourism; construction; non-ferrous metal mining industry; food, beverages, tobacco; machinery and equipment, automotive parts; chemical products, petroleum refinement (fuels); logistics and transportation; IT sector and outsourcing providers for specialized services. |
| External | |
| Exports | $55.3 billion (2022)[17] |
Export goods | refined petroleum, petroleum gas, electricity, refined and raw copper, wheat, seed oils, sunflower seeds, precious metal ore, prep binder for foundry, packaged medicaments, motocycles and cycles, automotive parts, copper plating, raw metals, scraps, electrical equipment, baked goods[18] |
Main export partners |
|
| Imports | $56.5 billion (2022)[20] |
Import goods | crude petroleum, petroleum gas, copper ore, cars and automotive parts, tractors, prepr binder for foundry, packaged medicaments, refined petroleum, telephones, semiconductor devices and computers, sunflower seeds, seed oils, raw and refined metals, foods, clothes[21] |
Main import partners |
|
FDI stock |
|
Current account | $2.562 billion (2017)[14] |
Gross external debt | $42.06 billion (2017)[14] |
| Public finances | |
Government debt |
|
Budget balance |
|
| Revenues | BGN 47.59 billion (2021)[23] |
| Expenses | BGN 52.48 billion (2021)[23] |
| Economic aid |
|
Credit rating |
|
Foreign reserves | $28.38 billion (2017)[14] |
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars. | |
The economy of Bulgaria functions on the principles of the free market, having a large private sector and a smaller public one. Bulgaria is an industrialised high-income country according to the World Bank,[28] and is a member of the European Union (EU), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC). The Bulgarian economy has experienced significant growth (538%), starting from $13.15 billion (nominal, 2000)[29] and reaching estimated gross domestic product (GDP) of $86 billion (nominal, 2022 est.)[29] or $203 billion (PPP, 2022 est.), GDP per capita of $31,148 (PPP, 2022 est.),[30] average gross monthly salary of 2,009 leva (1,027 euro) (April 2023),[31] and average net monthly salary of $2,102 (adjusted for living costs in PPP) (2022).[32][circular reference] The national currency is the lev (plural leva), pegged to the euro at a rate of 1.95583 leva for 1 euro.[33] The lev is the strongest and most stable currency in Eastern Europe.[34][35]
The strongest sectors in the economy are energy, mining, metallurgy, machine building, agriculture and tourism. Primary industrial exports are clothing, iron and steel, machinery and refined fuels.[36]
Sofia is the capital and economic heart of Bulgaria and home to most major Bulgarian and international companies operating in the country, as well as the Bulgarian National Bank and the Bulgarian Stock Exchange. Plovdiv is the second-largest city and has one of the largest economies in Bulgaria. Varna is the third largest city in Bulgaria and the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. Situated strategically in the Gulf of Varna, economically, Varna is among the best-performing and fastest-growing Bulgarian cities.
The Bulgarian economy has developed significantly in the last 26 years, despite all difficulties after the disband of Comecon in 1991. In the early 1990s, the country's slow pace of privatization, contradictory government tax and investment policies, and bureaucratic red tape kept the foreign direct investment (FDI) among the lowest in the region. Total FDI from 1991 through 1996 was $831 million.
In December 1996, Bulgaria joined the World Trade Organization. In the years since 1997, Bulgaria begun to attract substantial foreign investment. In 2004 alone, over 2.72 billion euro ($3.47 billion) were invested by foreign companies. In 2005, economists observed a slowdown to about 1.8 billion euro ($2.3 billion) in the FDI, which is attributed mainly to the end of the privatization of the major state owned companies.
After joining the European Union in 2007, Bulgaria registered a peak in foreign investment of about 6 bln euro. Low productivity and competitiveness on the European and world markets alike due to inadequate R&D funding, however, still remain a significant obstacle for foreign investment.[37] Nevertheless, according to the latest Annual report of the Economic Research Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the average salary in Bulgaria is a quarter (1/4) of the average salary in the European Union, and should be two times higher when the labour productivity is calculated in the formula.[38]
During the Great Recession, Bulgaria saw its economy decline by 5.5% in 2009, but quickly restored positive growth levels to 0.2% in 2010, in contrast to other Balkan countries.[39] However, the growth continued to be weak in the following years, and GDP only reached pre-crisis levels in 2014.[40]
- ^ "World Economic Outlook Database, April 2019". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
- ^ "New World Bank country classifications by income level: 2022-2023". datahelpdesk.worldbank.org. World Bank. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
- ^ "Population and demographic processes in 2022" (PDF).
- ^ a b c d e f "World Economic Outlook Database". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
- ^ "Gross Domestic Product for the Second Quarter of 2017 (Flash Estimates) | National statistical institute". National Statistical Institute. Archived from the original on 4 August 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
- ^ "Относителен дял на бедните спрямо линията на бедност за областта по пол" (in Bulgarian). National Statistical Institute. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
- ^ "Население в риск от бедност или социално изключване по пол - нова дефиниция". nsi.bg. National Statistical Institute. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
- ^ "People at risk of poverty or social exclusion". ec.europa.eu. Eurostat. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
- ^ "Poverty headcount ratio at $6.85 a day (2017 PPP) (% of population) - Bulgaria". data.worldbank.org. World Bank. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
- ^ "Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income - EU-SILC survey". ec.europa.eu/eurostat. Eurostat. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
- ^ a b "Human Development Report 2023/2024" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 13 March 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 March 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
- ^ "Labor force, total - Bulgaria". data.worldbank.org. World Bank. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
- ^ "Employment rate by sex, age group 20-64". ec.europa.eu/eurostat. Eurostat. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f "Bulgaria". The World Factbook (2024 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 13 March 2019. (Archived 2019 edition.)
- ^ "Unemployment by sex and age - monthly average". appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu. Eurostat. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
- ^ "БЕЗРАБОТНИ ЛИЦА И КОЕФИЦИЕНТИ НА БЕЗРАБОТИЦА НА НАСЕЛЕНИЕТО НА 15 И ПОВЕЧЕ НАВЪРШЕНИ ГОДИНИ ПРЕЗ ЧЕТВЪРТОТО ТРИМЕСЕЧИЕ НА 2022 ГОДИНА (15-24)". nsi.bg. NSI. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
- ^ "Where does Bulgaria export to? (2022)". [1]. 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
{{cite web}}: External link in|publisher= - ^ "What does Bulgaria export? (2022)". [2]. 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
{{cite web}}: External link in|publisher= - ^ "Export Partners of Bulgaria". The Observatory of Economic Complexity. 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
- ^ "Where does Bulgaria import from? (2022)". [3]. 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
{{cite web}}: External link in|publisher= - ^ "What does Bulgaria import? (2022)". [4]. 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
{{cite web}}: External link in|publisher= - ^ "Import Partners of Bulgaria". The Observatory of Economic Complexity. 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f "GDP, government deficit/surplus and debt in the EU (in national currencies)" (PDF). ec.europa.eu. Eurostat. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 December 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 April 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Bulgaria's Credit Rating Raised by S&P on Fiscal Performance". Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
- ^ "Scope affirms Bulgaria's ratings at BBB+, revises the Outlook to Positive from Stable". Scope Ratings. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
- ^ "World Bank country data: Bulgaria". The World Bank Group. 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
- ^ a b "Bulgaria GDP". countryeconomy.com/gdp/bulgaria. countryeconomy.com. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
- ^ "Bulgaria, IMF DataMapper". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
- ^ "СРЕДНА БРУТНА МЕСЕЧНА ЗАПЛАТА НА НАЕТИТЕ ЛИЦА ПО ТРУДОВО И СЛУЖЕБНО ПРАВООТНОШЕНИЕ ПРЕЗ 2021 ГОДИНА*". National Statistical Institute. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
- ^ "List of European countries by average wage". en.wikipedia.orgview_html.php?q=List_of_European_countries_by_average_wage. en.wikipedia.org. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
- ^ Fixed currency exchange rates, Bulgarian National Bank.
- ^ Bulgarian Bank Advisor: Bulgaria Lev Strongest Currency in Eastern Europe, Novinite, 16 February 2009
- ^ Bulgarian Lev – the Balkans’ Strongest Currency, Standart, 16 February 2009
- ^ "Field listing of principal export commodities". Central Intelligence Agency. 2011. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
- ^ Main challenges for research policies Archived 7 July 2012 at archive.today, ERAWATCH, 9 April 2010
- ^ "Средната заплата в България – 4 пъти по-ниска от тази в ЕС". Institute of Economic Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. 6 June 2017.
- ^ "Eurostat – Tables, Graphs and Maps Interface (TGM) table". Epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu. 11 March 2011. Archived from the original on 16 May 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
- ^ "Състояние и тенденции в развитието на областите: общ преглед". ИПИ. Retrieved 9 April 2016.