Press releases

According to preliminary data during the second quarter of 2018 in comparison with the same period of 2017 there was a decrease both in the goods carried and in the transport performance by the freight land and water transport.

In the second quarter of 2018 the transported passengers and the transport performance by passenger transport (land, water and urban electrical transport) decreased compared to the same period of the previous year, respectively by 3.7% and 8.7%.

According to the preliminary data for the second quarter of 2018 the total turnover index in section ‘Transportation, storage and post’, calculated on the basis of seasonally adjusted data increased by 2.8% compared to the first quarter of 2018. In section ‘Information and communication’ the turnover index grew by 2.9%.

In the second quarter of 2018, 1 084.9 thousand Bulgarian residents made tourist trips. The majority (77.7%) of them travelled only within the country, 17.5% - only abroad and 4.8% - both in the country and abroad. Compared to the same quarter of 2017 the total number of the travelled persons aged 15 and over decreased by 5.6%, as a reduction was observed in the number of the Bulgarian residents travelled in the country - by 12.4%, while in the number of the Bulgarian residents travelled both in the country and abroad and the number of persons travelled only abroad increased respectively by 58.3% and 22.4% of them.

The total income average per household member during the second quarter of 2018 is 1 474 BGN and increases by 8.7% compared to the same quarter of 2017.

The total expenditure average per household member during the second quarter of 2018 is 1 331 BGN and increases by 11.4% in comparison to the same quarter of 2017.

The consumption of main food products average per household member during the second quarter of 2018 compared to the same quarter of 2017 does change.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2018 increased by 0.4% in the EU-28 compared to the previous quarter by seasonally adjusted data. For the same period, GDP in Bulgaria increased by 0.8%.

According to the seasonally adjusted data, the GDP growth rate in the second quarter of 2018 is 3.4% compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

In the second quarter of 2018 the unemployment rate was 5.5% and the employment rate of population aged 20 - 64 was 72.6%.

The consumer price index in July 2018 compared to June 2018 was 100.7%, i.e. the monthly inflation was 0.7%.

According to the preliminary data of the National Statistical Institute at the end of June 2018 the number of employees under labour contract increased by 1.8% as compared to the end of March 2018 and reached 2.35 million.

In the second quarter of 2018 in comparison with the first quarter of 2018 the average monthly wages and salaries increased by 4.5% getting 1 125 BGN.

In the period January - May 2018 the Bulgarian exports to the EU increased by 12.0% compared to the same period of 2017 and amounted to 14 887.3 Million BGN while the imports grew by 9.7% and added up to 16 389.0 Million BGN.

In May 2018 the exports to the EU increased by 5.6% compared to the corresponding month of the previous year and amounted to 3 028.0 Million BGN while the imports grew by 6.5% and added up to 3 367.9 Million BGN.