Press releases

The trend of annual growth of the relative share of households with internet access continued - in 2024, 92.1% of the households in Bulgaria had access to the global network at home. Their relative share increased by 3.6 percentage points compared to the previous year. 94.7% of the households living in urban areas had internet access and for those resided in rural areas the relative share was 84.3%.

81.9% of the individuals aged between 16 and 74 years used the internet every day or at least once a week at any location (home, work or other places), and the share of people who had never surfed the internet decreased to 9.3%.

The internet was used mostly for communication by the individuals as 71.4% of them carried out phone or video calls (using applications such as Viber, WhatsApp, Skype, FaceTime, Messenger, Snapchat, Zoom, MS Teams, Webex), 65.0% participated in social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, etc.), and 64.9% used instant messaging (using applications such as Viber, WhatsApp, Messenger, Snapchat, Skype, Discord, Telegram).

In 2024, 96.4% of non-financial enterprises with 10 or more persons employed had internet access. Fixed internet connection was available in 89.2% of the enterprises and the maximum download speed in 54.1% was more than 100 Mbps.

The relative share of persons employed who had access to the internet increased to 43.4%, and 25.4% used portable devices with mobile internet connection for business purposes. 76.4% of the companies provided persons employed with remote access to information resources such as e-mail, documents of the enterprise, business applications or software.

Bulgarian enterprises using any Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology were 6.5%, with their relative share almost doubled compared to the previous year. The use of these technologies was most common among the companies with 250 or more persons employed - 20.2%.

Since July 2024, NSI has started publishing Turnover Indices in Retail trade by base year 2021 = 100 in accordance with the requirements of Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council for European Business Statistics and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197.

In October 2024, the turnover in ‘Retail trade, except motor vehicles and motorcycles’ at constant prices increased by 0.8% compared to the previous month. The data are preliminary and seasonally adjusted.

Growth was reported in all big groups: ‘Retail sales of automotive fuel in specialised stores’ - by 3.0%, ‘Retail sales of food, beverages and tobacco’ - by 1.1% and ‘Retail sales of non-food products (except fuel)’ - by 0.6%.

The trade turnover rose by 5.1% compared to October 2023 according to the calendar-adjusted data.

In October 2024, compared to the same month of 2023, an increase of the turnover was registered in ‘Retail sales of food, beverages and tobacco’ - by 10.9%, and in ‘Retail sales of non-food products (except fuel)’ - by 6.7%. А drop was reported in ‘Retail sales of automotive fuel in specialised stores’ - by 11.4%.

Since July 2024, NSI has started publishing Services Production Indices by base year 2021 = 100 in accordance with the requirements of Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council for European Business Statistics and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197.

In September 2024, the total production index in Services of the business economy increased by 0.2% compared to the previous month. The data are preliminary and seasonally adjusted.

Compared to September 2023, a rise of 7.0% was registered in the calendar-adjusted index according to preliminary data.

In 2023, there were 14 850 hazardous events (disasters, accidents and crises), representing a 1.0% increase compared to the previous year. The highest relative share is occupied by fires resulting in material damage - 50.4%, followed by road traffic accidents with casualties - 47.2%. The number of human fatalities resulting from disasters, accidents and crises was 667, while injured individuals were 9 415.

The country experienced a total of 104 hazardous events for which a state of emergency was declared, marking an increase of 55 events compared to the previous year. The largest share of these disasters was related to floods, storms, severe winter conditions, and forest fires. Compared to 2022, the declared states of emergency due to floods rose by 62.5%, while those linked to forest fires increased by 85.7%.

According to NSI estimates, in 2023, expenditures for preparedness, prevention, response, and recovery from hazardous events in the “General Government” sector were BGN 850 977 thousand, or 0.46% of the country’s GDP.

For October 2024, the reported revenues of sub-sector ‘Central Government’ were in the amount of BGN 4 538.80 million and the expenditures were in the amount of BGN 5 431.09 million, and for the sub-sector ‘Social Security Funds’ the revenues amounted to BGN 2 759.46 million and the expenditures were BGN 2 763.11 million.

The data for the ‘Central Government’ sub-sector are formed on the basis of the monthly cash statements of the budget units, as well as on estimates of the state enterprises reclassified in the sub-sector, and the data for the ‘Social Security Funds’ sub-sector - on the basis of the monthly cash statements of the National Insurance Institute and the National Health Insurance Fund.

The information is published on the basis of Article 3 (2) of Directive 2011/85 of the EU.

Detailed data can be found on the NSI website under the heading 'Government Finance Statistics'.

Since July 2024, NSI has started publishing Producer Prices Indices in Industry by base year 2021 = 100 in accordance with the requirements of Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council for European Business Statistics and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197.

The Total Producer Price Index in Industry fell by 1.4% in October 2024 compared to the previous month. A decrease of 12.1% was registered in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, while the prices in the mining and quarrying industry rose by 6.8%, as well as in the manufacturing industry - by 1.5%.

The Producer Price Index on the Domestic Market decreased by 3.0% in October 2024 compared to September 2024. The domestic prices fell in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply - by 9.4%. In the mining and quarrying industry, an increase of 2.6% was reported, and in the manufacturing industry - by 0.7%.

The Total Producer Price Index went down by 1.3% in October 2024 compared to the same month in 2023. There was a price reduction in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply - by 11.1%. An increase was observed in the mining and quarrying industry - by 26.5%, as well as in manufacturing industry by 0.4%.

The Producer Price Index on the Domestic Market decreased by 3.1% compared to October 2023. The prices fell in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply - by 8.9%, as well as in the manufacturing industry by 1.1%. A growth was reported in the mining and quarrying industry - by 16.9%.

The number of employees under labour contract in 2023 increased by 24.1 thousand, or by 1.1%, as compared to 2022 and reached 2.30 million according to the final data of the National Statistical Institute (NSI).

The average annual gross wages and salaries of the employees under labour contract in 2023 amounted to 24 485 BGN and increased by 15.3% compared to 2022.

In 2023, the total number of active family businesses in the country was 107 005. The total number of businesses in the ‘Trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles’ sector - 34 795, or 32.5%. Compared to 2022, number of active family businesses in the sector decreased by 203, or by 0.6%.

The largest number of family businesses and employed persons was in the Yugozapaden region. The total number of businesses in Yugozapaden region was 35 589 and 128 006. Compared to 2022, the number of enterprises increased by 824, or 2.4%, and the number of employees by 3 217, or 2.5%.

The number of employed persons in family businesses was 391 575, with the highest number in Sofia (capital) - 87 863.

Detailed data can be found on the NSI website under the heading 'Family business statistics'.

The expenditure on the acquisition of tangible fixed assets in all sectors of the economy amounted in 2023 to 33 503 million BGN at current prices and increased by 21.7% compared to the previous year. The largest volume of investments in tangible fixed assets was in the sector of Industry (except Construction) - 9 073 million BGN, followed by the Service sector (Wholesale and retail trade; Repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles; Transport, communication and services; Accommodation and food service activities) with 7 785 million BGN invested.

Detailed data can be found on the NSI website under the heading 'Investments'.