Press releases

The annual growth tendency of the relative share of households with internet access was retained and in 2023, 88.5% of the households in Bulgaria had internet access at home. Over a ten-year period the relative share increased by 31.8 percentage points.

79.8% of the individuals aged between 16 and 74 years used the internet every day or at least once a week at home, work or other places, and the share of people who had never surfed the internet decreased to 11.8%.

The most preferred device to access the internet was the mobile phone (incl. smartphone) which was used by 78.3% of the people, followed by the laptop - 33.5%.

Individuals used the network mostly for communication as 69.0% of them carried out phone or video calls (using applications such as Viber, WhatsApp, Skype, FaceTime, Messenger, Snapchat, Zoom, MS Teams, Webex), 65.4% used instant messaging (using applications such as Viber, WhatsApp, Messenger, Snapchat, Skype, Discord, Telegram) and 64.2% participated in social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, etc.).

In 2023, 96.3% of the 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 46.6% was more than 100 Mbps.

The relative share of the persons employed who had access to the internet was 39.7%. The most persons employed who used the internet were found in sector ‘Information and communication’ (92.2%) and least - in sector ‘Manufacturing’ (25.5%).

In 2023, 38.0% of the companies used social media, and 20.9% paid to advertise on the internet.

In 2023, 17.5% of the enterprises used paid cloud computing services, as main users of cloud services were large companies with 250 and more persons employed (52.2%), as well as the enterprises in sector ‘Information and communication’ - 59.0%.

For the period November 6st - December 3rd, 2023, the number of dead persons in Bulgaria is 7 873 and they are 327 less than during the same period in 2022. The data on deaths in Bulgaria for the period (45th - 48th week) and by week are available on the website of the National Statistical Institute at the following links:

Mortality | Infostat (infostat.nsi.bg)

Deaths in Bulgaria by weeks | National statistical institute (nsi.bg)

In the third quarter of 2023, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 1.8% and Gross Value Added (GVA) - by 0.9% compared to the third quarter of 2022 (data are preliminary and seasonally adjusted).

The increase in Gross Value Added is determined by the growth in the following economic activities:

Mining and quarrying; manufacturing; electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply; water supply, waste management and remediation activities - 2.9%, Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles; transportation and storage; accommodation and food service activities - 2.1%, Financial and insurance activities - 1.7%, Public administration and defence; compulsory social security; education; human health and social work activities - 1.4%, Information and communication - 0.6%, Construction - 0.5%, Professional, scientific and technical activities; administrative and support service activities - 0.3%.

A decline in Agriculture, forestry and fishing was registered - by 5.7%, and in Arts, entertainment and recreation, repair of household goods and other services - by 1.8%.

Regarding the expenditure components of GDP, contributors to the registered positive economic growth are the Final consumption, with a growth of 4.3% and gross fixed capital formation increased by 9.6%.

According to the seasonally adjusted data, in the third quarter of 2023, exports of goods and services decreased by 3.1%, and the imports of goods and services dropped by 5.5% compared to the third quarter of 2022.

According to the preliminary data, GDP per person employed increased in real terms by 2.1% in the third quarter of 2023 compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

According to data from the additional questionnaire under the Household Budget Survey in the third quarter of 2023, the income of 31.7% of households increased compared to the previous 12 months. The share of individuals who have difficulty covering their daily expenses is 70.1%, which is almost the same compared to the previous quarter.

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, 5 513 persons aged 16 and over from 3 059 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 October 2023, revenues of the subsector ‘Central Govermnent’  were reported in the amount of BGN 4 501.91 million and expenditures – BGN 4 825.05  million, and for  the subsector ‘Social Security Funds’ the revenues amounted  to BGN 2 506.90 million, and the expenditures are BG 2 448.98 million.

The data of the ‘Central Government’ subsector are formed on the basis of the monthly cash statements of the budget units, as well as estimates of the state enterprises reclassified in the subsector, and the data of the ‘Social Security Funds’ subsector - 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'.

In the third quarter of 2023, the largest increase in Service prices compared to the previous quarter was recorded in Security and investigation activities - by 3.6%, and in Employment activities - by 2.1%. A decrease in prices was registered in Computer programming, consultancy and related activities and in Information service activities - both by 1.1%.

Detailed data can be found on the NSI website under the heading 'Short-term Business Statistics'.

The Total Producer Price Index in Industry decreased by 0.9% in October 2023 compared to the previous month. Lower prices were registered in the mining and quarrying industry by 4.3%, and in the manufacturing industry by 1.2%. The prices went up in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply by 0.3%. 

The Producer Price Index on the Domestic Market decreased by 0.6% in October compared to September 2023. The domestic prices went down in the mining and quarrying industry by 2.4%, and in the manufacturing industry by 1.0%. The prices increased in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply by 0.1%.

The Total Producer Price Index fell by 20.1% in October 2023 compared to the same month in 2022. There was a considerable decrease in prices in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply by 48.8%, in the mining and quarrying industry by 4.9%, and in the manufacturing industry by 1.7%.

The Producer Price Index on the Domestic Market decreased by 25.9% compared to October 2022. Lower prices were reported in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply - by 47.9%, in the mining and quarrying industry - by 4.5%, and in the manufacturing industry by 1.5%.

National Statistical Institute publishes final 2022 data on the number of employees and average annual wages and salaries. In 2022 the number of employees under labour contract was 2 278 832 and increased by 29.9 thousands or 1.3% compared to 2021. The average annual wages and salaries of the employees under labour contract was 21 242 BGN, by 13.4% higher compared to 2021.

Detailed data can be found on the NSI website under the heading 'Annual statistics on employment and labour cost'.