Press releases

In July 2023, the index of production in the ‘Construction’ section was unchanged compared to the previous month. The production of civil engineering fell by 0.1% and the production of building construction remained unchanged. The data are preliminary and seasonally adjusted.

The calendar-adjusted data showed a decrease of 1.8% in construction production compared to the same month of 2022. A decrease was registered both in civil engineering - by 3.8%, and in building construction - by 0.2%.

The Industrial Production Index decreased by 1.3% in July 2023 compared to the previous month. The data are preliminary and seasonally adjusted.

A drop was reported in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply - by 8.4%, in the mining and quarrying industry - by 8.1%, while the production increase in the manufacturing - by 0.9%.

In July 2023, a decrease of 11.5% was registered in the calendar-adjusted Industrial Production Index in comparison with the same month in 2022.

Compared to July 2022, a drop was observed in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply - by 42.6%, in the mining and quarrying industry - by 23.5%, and in the manufacturing - by 3.1%.

For the period August 7th - September 3rd 2023, dead persons in Bulgaria are 6 762 and they are 1 211 less than during the same period in 2022. The data on deaths in Bulgaria for a period (32nd - 35th 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 second quarter of 2023, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 1.9% and Gross Value Added (GVA) by 2.2% compared to the second 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:

Construction - 5.8%, Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles; transportation and storage; accommodation and food service activities - 4.6%, Professional, scientific and technical activities; administrative and support service activities - 4.4%, Agriculture, forestry and fishing - 4.2%, Information and communication - 3.1%, Public administration and defence; compulsory social security; education; human health and social work activities - 1.9%, Financial and insurance activities - 1.8%, Arts, entertainment and recreation, repair of household goods and other services - 1.0% and Real estate activities - 0.9%.

A decline with 1.0% was registered in Mining and quarrying; manufacturing; electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply; water supply, waste management and remediation activities.

Regarding the expenditure components of GDP, contributors to the registered positive economic growth are the Final consumption, with a growth of 4.0% and gross fixed capital formation increased by 7.3%.

According to the seasonally adjusted data, in the second quarter of 2023, exports of goods and services decreased by 0.9%, and the imports of goods and services dropped by 6.9% compared to the second quarter of 2022.

In the second quarter of 2023 GDP per person employed increased in real terms by 1.7% compared to the second quarter of 2022, аccording to the preliminary data.

In the second quarter of 2023, the largest increase in Service prices compared to the previous quarter was recorded in Air transport and Cleaning activities, by 8.4% and 6.0%, respectively. A decrease in prices was registered in Courier activities - by 1.7%.

Detailed data are published on the NSI website under the heading 'Short-term Business Statistics'.

The monthly data on revenues, expenses and deficit/surplus of the subsector ‘Central Government’ and the subsector ‘Social Security Funds’ for July 2023 have been published, in accordance with Article 3(2) of Directive 2011/85 of the EU. 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 Insurance Funds’ subsector are formed on the basis of the monthly cash statements of the National Insurance Institute and the National Health Insurance Fund.

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

At the National Statistical Institute, according to preliminary data, 44 licensed insurers, 10 pension companies and 31 supplementary pension funds managed by them, as well as 19 funds for making payments, 252 special investment purpose companies and 10 137 associations and foundations have submitted their annual reports for 2022.

Insurance companies

For 2022, a total of 44 licensed insurance companies have submitted their annual reports at the National Statistical Institute, with balance value of assets as of 31.12.2022 for 8 881 million BGN and realised turnover^[1] for 3 711 million BGN.

In 2022, the insurance companies have reported a positive financial result of their activity for 234 million BGN. In the life insurance sector, profit of 69 million BGN is realised while in non-life insurance sector, the profit reached 165 million BGN.

Pension Companies and Pension Funds

In 2022, 10 pension companies have been active, with balance value of assets the end of the year for 543 million BGN.

The operating income of pension companies for 2022 is 296 million BGN and the realised profit amounted to 69 million BGN.

For the reference year 2022, 31 supplementary pension funds have submitted annual reports for their activity at the NSI, as well as 19 funds for making payments. The balance value assets of supplementary pension insurance fund as of 31.12.2022 is 19 291 million BGN and the investments reached 17 321 million BGN. The balance value assets of pension payment funds as of 31.12.2022 is 69 million BGN and the investments reached 28 million BGN.

The total number of insured persons in pension funds as of 31.12.2022 is 4 920 995 and the gross receipts from contributions - 2 233 million BGN.

Special Investment Purpose Companies

For the reference 2022, at the NSI were submitted 252 annual reports by special investment purpose companies, with total balance value of their assets the end of the year for 12 723 million BGN. Foreign assets received (securities and cash to customers) amounted to 7 785 million BGN.

The financial income of special purpose in companies for 2022 at current prices totalled 1 894 million BGN and the financial result for the year was a profit of 56 million BGN.

Associations and Foundations

According to preliminary data, the number of associations and foundations, which have submitted annual reports for 2022 at the NSI, was 10 137. The balance value of their assets as of 31.12.2022 amounted to 1 466 million BGN.

The members of associations and foundations as of 31.12.2022 were 2 094 527, of which 179 127 were legal entities and 1 915 400 were individuals. The working volunteers were 54 605, as they worked a total of 1 188 745 hours.

Annual reports on their activity for 2022 were submitted at the National Statistical Institute (NSI) by 448 409 non-financial enterprises, which was 8.6% more compared to 2021. The number of persons employed in full-time equivalent in the non-financial enterprises was 2 220 091 or 4.3% more than the previous year. The non-financial enterprises generated 277 910 million BGN of the value of output at current prices and reported a positive financial result of 39 803 million BGN (the data are preliminary).

At the NSI 46 090 enterprises in the sector ‘Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing’ submitted annual reports on their activity for 2022 or 10.3% of the total number of the reported non-financial enterprises. These enterprises employed 107 756 persons who generated a value of output of 13 832 million BGN at current prices. A positive financial result of 3 513 million BGN was reported.

Annual reports on their activities were submitted in NSI by 35 737 industrial enterprises or 8.0% of the total number of the reported non-financial enterprises at the NSI, as the largest share had the sector ‘Manufacturing’ - 84.5%. The value of output at current prices, manufactured by the industrial sector amounted to 119 854 million BGN, which formed 43.1% of the total production value of non-financial enterprises. This sector employed 579 987 persons or 26.1% of the total number of persons employed in non-financial enterprises. The industrial enterprises finished 2022 with a positive financial result of 12 002 million BGN at current prices - the largest contribution had the sector ‘Manufacturing’, which formed 58.3% of that result.

At the NSI 23 748 construction enterprises submitted annual reports on their activity or 5.3% of the total number of reported non-financial enterprises. The largest share had the enterprises engaged in specialized construction activities - 52.5%. The construction enterprises employed 144 137 persons or 6.5% of the total number of persons employed in non-financial enterprises. The construction sector generated a value of output of 22 931 million BGN at current prices or 8.2% of the total production value. The construction sector finished 2022 with a positive financial result of 2 043 million BGN at current prices and ‘Construction of buildings’ formed 39.9% of that result.

Annual reports on their activity for 2022 were submitted at the NSI by 137 294 trade enterprises or 30.6% of the total number of reported non-financial enterprises. The largest share had ‘Retail trade, except motor vehicles and motorcycles’ - 68.2%. This sector engaged 490 207 persons or 22.1% of the total number of persons employed in non-financial enterprises. The trade sector generated a value of output of 38 017 million BGN at current prices or 13.7% of the total production value of non-financial enterprises. The trade enterprises realized a positive financial result of 10 068 million BGN at current prices and ‘Wholesale trade, except motor vehicles and motorcycles’ formed 70.6% of that result.

At the NSI 205 540 enterprises in the service sector submitted annual reports or 45.8% of the total number of reported non-financial enterprises. This sector employed 898 004 persons or 40.4% of the total number of persons employed in non-financial enterprises. At current prices, in the service sector was generated value of output of 83 276 million BGN that formed 30.0% of the total production value of non-financial enterprises. The service sector finished 2022 with a positive financial result of 12 177 million BGN and 23.6% of that result were realized by ‘Information and communication’.

The foreign direct investments (FDI) in the non-financial sector as of 31.12.2022 amounted to 29 251 million euro at current prices.

In 2022, the largest volume of the foreign direct investments was made in Industry sector - 12 822 million euro. Next by FDI volume was Service sector (Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles; Transport, communication and services; Accommodation and food service activities) - 6 837 million euro.

The investments made in Information and communication sector are 3.1 percentage points more compared to the previous year, and in the Construction sector they decrease by 0.4 percentage points.

The expenditure on acquisition of tangible fixed assets in all sectors of the economy amounted to 27 741 million BGN at current prices.

The largest volume of investments in tangible fixed assets was in the sector of Industry - 7 115 million BGN, followed by Service sector (Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles; Transport, communication and services; Accommodation and food service activities) with 6 917 million BGN.

In the structure of expenditure on acquisition of tangible fixed assets, an increase was observed in the investments made in industrial sector, as their relative share increased by 1.5 percentage points compared to 2021 and a decrease in the Service sector (Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles; Transport, communication and services; Accommodation and food service activities) by 0.5 percentage points.

During the reporting year, the structure of expenditure on acquisition of tangible fixed assets by kind was changed. The relative share of investments for buildings and construction equipment decreased by 0.5 percentage points compared to the previous year and reached 34.9%, machines, production equipment and apparatus also decreased by 0.1 points, for the purchase of land - by 1.4 points, and for means of transport - by 0.3 points, forming respectively 28.0%, 8.3% and 13.7% of the total volume of investments in of expenditure on acquisition of tangible fixed assets. At the same time, funds invested for other expenses increased by 2.3 points and reached 15.1%.