Statistical data

In August 2023, the total business climate indicator decreases by 1.0 percentage point compared to the previous month. More unfavourable business climate is observed in industry, retail trade and service sector, while in construction an increase is registered.

The uncertain economic environment remains the main problem for the activity of the enterprises in all sectors.

The Total Producer Price Index in Industry rose by 0.5% in July 2023 compared to the previous month. A 0.8% increase was registered in the manufacturing industry, while the mining and quarrying industry as well as the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply fell by 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively. 

The Producer Price Index on the Domestic Market fell by 0.3% in July compared to June 2023. The domestic prices decreased in the mining and quarrying industry by 4.0%, in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply by 0.2%, and in the manufacturing industry by 0.1%.

The Total Producer Price Index went down by 13.7% in July 2023 compared to the same month in 2022. There was a considerable decline in prices in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply - 37.0%, and in the manufacturing industry - 2.6%, while the mining and quarrying industry marked a rise of 11.2%. 

The Producer Price Index on the Domestic Market decreased by 18.1% compared to July 2022. Lower prices were reported in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply - 36.8%, and in the manufacturing - 1.7%, while the prices in the mining and quarrying industry rose by 3.7%.

In June 2023, compared to May 2023, an increase is reported for the production of: liquefied petroleum gases - by 33.3%, electricity - by 17.7%, and transport diesel - by 7.6%. A decrease is reported for the production of: solid fuels - by 24.2%, and motor gasoline - by 10.1%. No change for the production of  natural gas.

Compared to the same month of the previous year, a decrease is reported for the production of: solid fuels - by 66.6%, natural gas - by 50.0%, electricity - by 26.5%, motor gasoline - by 14.6%, transport diesel - by 11.8%, and liquefied petroleum gases - by 11.1%.

In June 2023, compared to May 2023, an increase is reported for the deliveries of transport diesel - by 9.1%. A decrease is reported for the deliveries of: liquefied petroleum gases - by 20.9%, solid fuels - by 16.1%, electricity - by 7.0%, natural gas - by 3.3%, and motor gasoline - by 2.2%.

Compared to the same month of 2022, an increase is reported for the deliveries of: transport diesel - by 7.6%, and liquefied petroleum gases - by 3.0%. A decrease is reported for the deliveries of: solid fuels - by 67.5%, motor gasoline - by 22.4%, natural gas - by 19.4%, and electricity - by 4.7%.

In July 2023, the number of trips of Bulgarian residents abroad was 820.5 thousand, or 12.1% above the registered in July 2022.

The trips with holiday and recreation purpose composed the greatest share of the total number of trips of Bulgarian residents abroad - 44.8%, followed by those with other purposes (as a guest, education and visiting cultural and sports events) - 38.6%, and with professional purpose - 16.6%.

Тhe number of visits of non-residents to Bulgaria was 1 836.0 thousand, or 19.7% more in comparison with the same month of the previous year. The predominant share of the visits was with holiday and recreation purpose - 50.3%, followed by trips with other purposes - 43.9%, and with professional purpose - 5.8%.

Transit passes through the country were 35.9% (658.3 thousand) of all visits of non-residents to Bulgaria.

The goods carried by freight land and water transport increased by 10.6%, while the transport performance decreased by 12.4% during the second quarter of 2023 in comparison with the same quarter of 2022. The data are preliminary.

The number of passengers carried by the passenger transport (land, water and urban electrical transport) rose by 1.5% in the second quarter of 2023. The transport performance also increased by 6.4%. 

Freight land transport
In the second quarter of 2023, the transported goods by the land transport were 10.4% more than in the same quarter of 2022, while the transport performance decreased by 12.1%.

Freight water transport
The goods carried by sea and inland waterway transport rose by 15.4%, while the transport performance, measured in tonne-kilometres, fell by 24.6%. 

Passengers land transport
The number of the transported passengers by land transport decreased by 1.6%, while the transport performance represented a growth of 6.0% compared to the same quarter of 2022.

Passengers water transport
In the second quarter of 2023 there was an increase in both transported passengers by water transport and transport performance by 9.0 thousand passengers and 94.0 thousand passenger-kilometres, respectively. 

Urban electrical transport
During the period April - June of 2023 the enterprises performing urban electrical transport transported 6.0% more passengers and the transport performance increased by 8.7% compared to the same period of 2022. 

In the second quarter of 2023, 1 172.4 thousand Bulgarian residents made tourist trips. The majority of them - 79.2% travelled only in the country, 16.7% - only abroad, and 4.1% - both in the country and abroad. Compared to the same quarter of 2022, the total number of travelled persons aged 15 and over increased by 8.9%.

The turnover index in the section ‘Transportation, storage and post’ decreased by 3.9% for the second quarter of 2023 compared to the previous quarter. In the section ‘Information and communication’ was seen an increase of the turnover by 3.1%. The data are preliminary and seasonally adjusted.

During the second quarter of 2023, the turnover index in the section ‘Transportation, storage and post’ increased by 0.6% compared to the same quarter of 2022. The turnover in the section ‘Information and communication’ rose by 16.2%. The data are preliminary and calendar-adjusted.

In the second quarter of 2023 the expenditure on acquisition of tangible fixed assets in all sectors of the economy amounted to 6 646 million BGN, which is 23.5% more as compared to the previous quarter. The data are preliminary.

Detailed data are published on the NSI website under the heading “Investments”.

According to data from the additional questionnaire under the Household Budget Survey in the second quarter of 2023, the income of 78.0% of households remained unchanged compared to the previous 12 months. 70.6% of respondents have difficulties in covering daily expenses, but they decreased by 6.2 percentage points compared to the previous quarter. Nearly 1/4 of people limit their energy consumption.

The survey is conducted under the project ‘Income and Living Conditions (ILC) - Statistical infrastructure under IESS - SILC 2024, 6-year module ‘Access to services’ - Pilot collection of annual data for 2023’ under Grant Agreement with the European Commission № 101122129 - 2022-BG-ILC-SILC. The additional survey aims to carry out quarterly monitoring of changes in the living conditions of households. For the study, 5 512 persons aged 16 and over from 3 050 households were surveyed.

The results of the additional survey can be viewed in the press releases under the heading ‘Income, expenditure and consumption of households’.

In the second quarter of 2023:

- The unemployment rate was 4.6%, or 0.1 percentage point higher in comparison with the second quarter of 2022;

- The employment rate of the population aged 15 - 64 increased by 0.3 percentage points in comparison with the same quarter of 2022 and reached 70.3%;

- The activity rate of the population aged 15 - 64 was 73.7%, increasing by 0.3 percentage points in comparison with the second quarter of 2022.

The data was from the Labour Force Survey - a sample statistical survey. It is carried out over a sample of non-institutional households. Quarterly, 19.6 thousand households, randomly selected, are observed.