Press releases

The phenomenon of daily labour migration closely relates to the economic condition of settlements, their location and infrastructure, as well as the presence and characteristics of the labour force in them. The importance of this process for society is great, since participation in daily trips, unlike permanent resettlement, does not lead to depopulation of settlements or to disruption of the age structure of the population.

Employed

As of September 7, 2021, 121 235 individuals, or 5.1% of those who answered the question, indicated that they mostly work from home. There are 100 547 persons without a fixed workplace, or 4.2%. The highest is the absolute number and the relative share of persons who work in the same settlement where they live - 1 661 017 (69.5%). 494 719 people, or 20.7%, travel to the place where they work. There are 13 086, or 0.5% of the employed who travel outside the country.

Daily labour migrants represent 18.6% of all employed persons aged 15 and over. Of these, 262 238 people, or 53.0%, live in villages, and 232 481, or 47.0%, live in cities, with men predominating - 56.9%, compared to women - 43.1% of all labour migrants.

Students

As of September 7, 2021, 21 522 individuals, or 2.6% of respondents, indicated that they study mainly from home. The absolute number and the relative share of persons who study in the same settlement where they live is the highest - 610 621 (75.1%). 176 440 people, or 21.7%, travel to the settlement where they study. Students who travel outside the country are 4 242, or 0.5%.

Mobile students represent 21.7% of all students. 59 621 people, or 33.8%, live in the cities, and 116 819, or 66.2% of the migrant students live in the villages.

Population migration is a major factor that affects the number and structures of the population both for the country as a whole and for individual regions and territories.

As of September 7, 2021, 395 690 persons declared that they had changed the place of their habitual residence within the country during the period 2011 - 2021. Migrant women are 213 558, or 54.0%, and men - 182 132, or 46.0% of the migrated persons.

As of September 7, 2021, 354 138 persons declared that they resided outside the country for more than one year during the period 1980 - 2021 and returned or arrived in the country during the same period.

Bulgarian citizens who returned to the country during the observed period are 314 285, or 88.7% of all who indicated that they had resided abroad. Men are 164 833 (52.4%), and women - 149 452 (47.6%).

In October 2022, compared to September 2022, an increase is reported for the production of: unleaded motor gasoline - by 85.0% and transport diesel - by 18.7%. A decrease is reported for the production of: electricity - by 13.7%, and solid fuels - by 1.5%. No change for the production of liquefied petroleum gases and natural gas.

In October 2022, compared to the same month of the previous year, during which planned repair of production installations was carried out, the production of liquefied petroleum gases, unleaded motor gasoline and transport diesel increased significantly. A decrease is reported for the production of: natural gas - by 50.0%, electricity - by 18.6%, and solid fuels - by 18.0%.

In October 2022, compared to September 2022, an increase is reported for the deliveries of: liquefied petroleum gases - by 9.5%, transport diesel - by 9.0%, electricity - by 6.5%, and natural gas - by 2.2%. A decrease is reported for the deliveries of: unleaded motor gasoline - by 19.2%, and solid fuels - by 2.3%.

In October 2022, compared to the same month of the previous year, an increase is reported for the deliveries of: liquefied petroleum gases - by 24.3%, and transport diesel - by 11.8%. A decrease is reported for the deliveries of: natural gas - by 40.6%, solid fuels - by 20.6%, and electricity - by 9.6%. No change for the deliveries of unleaded motor gasoline.

In November 2022, the number of the trips of Bulgarian residents abroad was 501.2 thousand or 8.9% above the registered in November 2021.

The trips with other purposes (as a guest, education and visiting cultural and sports events) in November 2022 composed the greatest share of the total number of trips of Bulgarian residents abroad - 49.2%, followed by those with holiday and recreation purpose - 25.7%, and with professional purpose - 25.1%.

In November 2022, the number of visits of non-residents to Bulgaria was 671.5 thousand or 52.8% more in comparison with November 2021. An increase in the trips with all observed purposes was registered. Transit passes through the country were 37.4% (250.8 thousand) of all visits of non-residents to Bulgaria.

The Total Producer Price Index in Industry decreased by 9.5% in November 2022 compared to the previous month. Lower prices were registered in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply by 23.3%, in the manufacturing by 0.7%, and in the mining and quarrying industry by 0.6%.

The Producer Price Index on the Domestic Market decreased by 12.6% in November 2022 compared to the previous month. The domestic prices went down in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply by 23.1%, in the mining and quarrying industry by 2.1%, and in the manufacturing by 0.9%.

The Total Producer Price Index rose by 21.2% in November 2022 compared to the same month in 2021. Significant growth was seen in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply by 30.5%, in the manufacturing by 17.8%, and in the mining and quarrying industry by 2.5%.

The Producer Price Index on the Domestic Market went up by 25.3% compared to November 2021. Prices rose in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply by 28.1%, in manufacturing by 24.3%, and in the mining and quarrying industry by 6.1%.

In December 2022, the total business climate indicator increases by 1.0 percentage point compared to November. An increase of the indicator is observed in industry and retail trade, in construction preserves its level, and in service sector, a reduction is registered.

In all sectors, the most serious problem for the business development remains the uncertain economic environment.

The ‘Europe 2020’ strategy, adopted in June 2010 by the Council of Europe, is a multi-faceted strategy for sustainable growth and jobs for the coming decades, the aim of which is to help Europe emerge stronger from the world's worst economic crisis since the 30s of the 20th century.

The Europe ‘2020’ strategy puts forward three mutually reinforcing priorities:

- Smart growth: developing an economy based on knowledge and innovation;

- Sustainable growth: promoting a more resource efficient, greener and more competitive economy;

- Inclusive growth: fostering a high-employment economy delivering social and territorial cohesion.

In the third quarter of 2022, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 3.3% compared to the third quarter of 2021.

In October 2022, the total consumer confidence indicator decreases by 0.6 percentage points in comparison with July.

During the third quarter of 2022, 68.2% of GDP was spent on individual consumption.

The relative share of gross fixed capital formation in GDP in the third quarter of 2022 is 14.2%.

The employment rate for the population aged 15 years and over was 55.4%.

The unemployment rate decreased by 0.9 percentage points and stood at 3.7%.

By 16.2% rose the total hourly labour cost for the third quarter of 2022.

In the third quarter of 2022, the house price index increased by 15.6%.

As of September 7, 2021, the Bulgarian ethnic group comprised 5 118 494, or 84.6% of the persons who answered the question about ethnicity. Compared to 2011, the share of this group decreased by 0.2 percentage points. 508 378, or 8.4% of the respondents, identified themselves as belonging to the Turkish ethnic group. Their relative share decreased by 0.4 percentage points compared to 2011. 266 720, or 4.4% of the respondents, identified themselves as the third-largest Roma ethnic group. The relative share of the population from this ethnic group decreased by 0.5 percentage points compared to 2011. 79 006 people, or 1.3%, identified themselves as belonging to other ethnic groups.

15 746 (0.3%) persons indicated that they could not self-determine. 63 767, or 1.0% of respondents, answered ‘I do not want to answer’.

Bulgarian is the mother tongue of 5 037 607 people, or 85.3% of the population, Turkish - for 514 386 people, or 8.7%, and Romani - for 227 974 people, or 3.9% of those who answered the question. Another mother tongue was indicated by 62 906 people, or 1.1%. The persons who indicated that they could not determine their mother tongue were 10 633 (0.2%). 49 602, or 0.8% of respondents, answered, ‘I do not want to answer’.

4 219 270, or 71.5% of those who answered the question, self-identified as Christians. Eastern Orthodox Christians predominate among them - 4 091 780, or 97.0% of those who indicated a Christian religious denomination, followed by persons with a Protestant religious denomination - 69 852 (1.7%), Catholic - 38 709 (0.9%) and 5 002 (0.1%) indicated the Armenian apostolic creed. The answer ‘other Christian’ was chosen by 13 927, or 0.3% of those who answered the question. 638 708 persons, or 10.8%, indicated Muslim religious denomination, 1 736 Jews, and 6 451 persons professed other religions. As of September 7, 2021, 305 102 (5.2%) individuals responded that they did not have a religion, 259 235 (4.4%) had difficulty identifying their religion, and 472 606 (8.0%) indicated that they did not want to answer.

By 16.2% rose the total hourly labour cost for the third quarter of 2022 compared to the third quarter of 2021 (preliminary data of the NSI). The total hourly labour cost increased by 18.1% in industry, 16.4% in services and 16.0% in construction.

The breakdown by economic activities showed that the highest annual growth in total labour costs was recorded in ‘Accommodation and food service activities’ - by 23.4%, ‘Mining and quarrying’ - by 19.4% and ‘Public administration and defence; compulsory social security’ - by 19.2%.