Bulgaria’s software industry is among the few left unaffected by the world pandemic. Quite the opposite – the crisis born of the global spread of coronavirus actually gave an impetus to one of the few Bulgarian industries that are competitive globally.
According to data of the Bulgarian Association of Software Companies (BASSCOM), in 2020 the sector marked a 10% growth in revenues, compared to the 5.5% drop in GDP in the country. Almost 38,000 people were employed in the software sector during this period, their numbers expected to reach 41,667 by the end of 2021. More than 60 software brands have offices on the Bulgarian market, and entrepreneurs from more than 20 different nationalities have been setting up new companies and opening offices in the country despite the crisis, a BASSCOM study shows.
The Bulgarian IT market displays a curious feature – around 35% of all people employed in it are women. This puts the country top of the list of EU countries in this indicator which is double the average percentage for the Union. And one more thing – more and more Bulgarians living abroad have been coming back to the country to work in IT. According to BASSCOM data, in some companies their number has reached 10% of all staff.