Statistical data

In the third quarter of 2009 the employment rate of population aged 15 - 64 stood at 63.1%, by 1.9 percentage points lower than in the same quarter of the previous year.

The goods carried by the railway transport in October 2009 are by 20.1 % more than in the previous month, while as to the same month of 2008 there is a decrease by 30.7 %. In the passenger traffic, the total number of passenger carried decreased by 0.5% compared to the previous month, while in comparison with September 2008, there is a decrease by 8.6%.

The investment business inquiry of NSI carried out among industrial enterprises in the second half of October 2009 indicates that the industrial entrepreneurs expect in the current year to make 37.2% less investments than 2008.

In the third quarter of 2009, there were 3 303 accommodation establishments - hotels, motels, camping sites, mountain chalets and other establishments for short-term accommodation with more than 10 bed places. The total number of the nights spent in the third quarter of 2009 in all accommodation establishments fell by 1 567.2 thousand (15.7%) as compared to the same period of 2008 to 8 424 thousand.

According to the preliminary data of the National Statistical Institute (NSI) the number of employees under labour contract at the end of September 2009 decreased by 2.7% as compared to the end of June 2009 and reached to 2.34 millions. In third quarter of 2009 in comparison with the second quarter of 2009 the average monthly wages and salaries decreased by 0.9% getting 583 levs.

According to the preliminary data of the National Statistical Institute, the construction production in September 2009 decreased by 19.7% compared to the same month of the previous year.

The preliminary data showed that the Industrial Production Index decreased by 19.3% in September 2009 as compared to September 2008, industrial production increased by 2.7% as compared to the previous month. Industrial Turnover Index decreased by 28.2% compared to September 2008, the turnover increased by 4.1% as compared to the previous month.

In October 2009 the value of the total consumer confidence indicator decreases by 5.9 percentage points in comparison with July and is almost equal to the level from 6 months ago. The decrease is due to the reduced confidence of both the rural and the urban population - respectively by 7.3 and 5.2 percentage points.

In 2008 the total amount of the expenditure on research and development activity (R&D) is 325.9 million BGN which increases by 19.3% in comparison with the previous year and the annual growth tendency retains for the period of 2001 - 2008.

Producer Price Index on Domestic Market in September 2009 rose 1.2% compared to the previous month, compared to the same month of 2008 domestic prices fell by 7.8%. Total Producer Price Index in Industry in September 2009 increased by 1.4% compared to August 2009, compared to September 2009 the index decreased by 8.8%.