Press releases

The Total Producer Price Index in Industry rose by 0.5% in November 2023 compared to the previous month. An increase of 2.5% was registered in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, and in the mining and quarrying industry by 1.1%. In the manufacturing industry the prices fell by 0.2%.

The Producer Price Index on the Domestic Market increased by 0.7% in November compared to October 2023. The domestic prices went up in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply by 2.9%, and in the mining and quarrying industry by 2.3%, while in the manufacturing industry the prices decreased by 0.8%.

The Total Producer Price Index went down by 11.2% in November 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 31.6%, in the mining and quarrying industry by 3.2%, and in the manufacturing industry by 1.1%.

The Producer Price Index on the Domestic Market fell by 14.6% compared to November 2022. Lower prices were reported in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply by 30.3%, in the manufacturing industry by 1.4%, and in the mining and quarrying industry by 0.2%.

The National Statistical Institute has published annual data for 2022 on the liabilities of public corporations under Directive 2011/85 EU. The data are represented as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product.

The scope covers public corporations classified in the sectors ‘Non-financial corporations’, ‘Financial corporations’ and ‘Non-profit institutions serving households’, but are controlled by the sector General Government and its subsectors.

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

In December 2023, the total business climate indicator decreases by 1.8 percentage points compared to the previous month, which is due to the unfavourable business climate in the construction, retail trade and service sector. Only in the industry, the indicator preserves approximately its November level.

The main difficulties for the activity in the sectors remain the uncertain economic environment, shortage of labour, competition in the branch and costs of materials.

In the third quarter of 2023, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 1.8% compared to the third quarter of 2022.

In October 2023, the total consumer confidence indicator increases by 3.3 percentage points compared to July 2023.

During the third quarter of 2023, 66.9% of GDP was spent on individual consumption.

The relative share of gross fixed capital formation in GDP in the third quarter of 2023 is 16.9%.

The employment rate for the population aged 15 years and over was 53.9%.

The unemployment rate was 4.0% (compared to 3.6% in the third quarter of 2022), 4.3% for men and 3.8% for women.

In the third quarter of 2023, compared to the third quarter of 2022 the total hourly labour cost rose by 15.1% (preliminary data).

In the third quarter of 2023, the house price index increased by 9.2% compared to the same quarter of 2022.

In November 2023, the number of trips of Bulgarian residents abroad was 574.0 thousand, or 14.5% above the registered in November 2022.

The trips with other purposes (as a guest, education and visiting cultural and sports events) composed the greatest share of the total number of trips of Bulgarian residents abroad - 50.7%, followed by those with holiday and recreation purposes - 25.1%, and with professional purpose - 24.2%.

The number of visits of non-residents to Bulgaria was 694.4 thousand, or 3.4% more in comparison with the same month of the previous year. The predominant share of the visits was with other purposes - 52.4%, followed by trips with holiday and recreation purposes - 30.0%, and with professional purpose - 17.6%.

Transit passes through the country were 37.8% (262.6 thousand) of all visits of non-residents to Bulgaria.

The total export price index during the third quarter of 2023 by sections of the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC, rev. 4) is 90.4%, which is a 38.7 percentage points decrease in the index compared to the same period of the previous year.

The total import price index for the reporting period by sections of the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC, rev. 4) is 94.5%, which is a 27.6 percentage points decrease in the index compared to the same period of the previous year.

Price indices of exports and imports by sectors of the Standard Trade Classification (SITC, rev. 4) are published on the NSI website under the heading ‘Еxports-and-imports-price-indices’.

The housing prices were increased by 2.7% in the third quarter of 2023 compared to the previous quarter. The highest increase was recorded in Ruse (+8.6%), followed by Burgas (+4.0%) and Sofia (+3.8%). The decrease was registered in Plovdiv (-2.9%) and Stara Zagora (-2.3%).

In the third quarter of 2023, compared to the third quarter of 2022, the housing prices rose by 9.2%.

Detailed data are published on the NSI website under the heading 'Housing price statistics'.

In the third quarter of 2023, compared to the third quarter of 2022, the total hourly labour cost rose by 15.1% (preliminary data). The total hourly labour cost increased by 16.6% in industry, 13.9% in services and 17.0% in construction.

The highest annual growth in total labour costs was recorded in ‘Education’ - by 21.9%, ‘Accommodation and food service activities’ - by 18.8%, and ‘Transportation and storage’ - by 17.4%.

In 2021, the total value of investments and current expenditures for environmental protection and restoration is 2 643 million BGN, which is 7% more than the previous year. Compared to 2020, the level of investments increased (7.4%), and the level of current expenditures decreased (6.9%). The value of the investments made in 2021 is 704 million BGN. Current expenditures in 2021 account for 73.3% of total environmental expenditures (1 939 million BGN).

Expenditures for protecting and restoring the environment include the expenditures of acquiring tangible and intangible assets (investments) and the expenditures of maintaining/operating them, including environmental measures (running expenditures). The largest share of the total expenditures is spent on waste recovery and disposal (58%), air cleanliness (17%) and wastewater treatment (16%).

The expenditures of environmental protection and restoration are part of the total expenditure of tangible and intangible fixed assets. In 2021, the share of expenditure available at the end of the year for acquisition of tangible and intangible fixed assets with ecological use amounts to 3.5% of the total expenditure for acquisition of tangible and intangible fixed assets in the country.

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

Tourist consumption in Bulgaria in 2021 was estimated at 5 714.34 million BGN. Inbound tourism expenditures from foreign citizens visiting the country were 77.8% (4 443.74 million BGN), while the domestic tourism expenditures by Bulgarian citizens traveling within the country amounted to 22.2% (1 270.6 million BGN). Accommodation services represented the largest component both in inbound and domestic tourism.

Outbound tourism expenditures by Bulgarian citizens traveling abroad in 2021 were 2 118.52 million BGN. The largest relative shares were attributed to food and beverage serving services - 38.7%, and transportation services - 38.4%.

Detailed data can be found on the NSI website under the heading 'Tourism' and in the ‘INFOSTAT’ information system.