Key Indicators for Bulgaria (as of 06.04.2020)
According to the NSI business inquiries in March 2020, the industrial confidence indicator decreased by 1.1 percentage points in comparison with February 2020.
In January 2020 the working day adjusted Industrial Production Index decreased by 0.7% in comparison with the same month of 2019 (preliminary data). On annual basis in January 2020 Industrial Production Index calculated from working day adjusted data fell in the mining and quarrying industry by 11.7% and in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply by 7.2%, while the production rose in the manufacturing by 2.1%.
In January 2020 working day adjusted data showed an increase by 1.7% in the construction production, compared to the same month of 2019. On an annual basis in January 2020, the increase of production in construction, calculated from working day adjusted data, was determined from the positive rate in the civil engineering, where the growth was by 3.1% and in the building construction - by 0.7%.
According to the preliminary data the produced Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at current prices for the fourth quarter of 2019 is 32 682 million BGN. GDP per person is 4 677 BGN. GDP is 18 499 million USD and 2 647 USD per person using the average for the quarter exchange rate of 1.766702 BGN for 1 USD. In Euro terms GDP is 16 710 million EUR or 2 391 EUR per person. According to the seasonally adjusted data1, the GDP growth rate in the fourth quarter of 2019 is 3.1% compared to the same quarter of the previous year and 0.8% compared to the third quarter of 2019.
Investment
In January the average capacity utilization in industry increased by 1.7 percentage points in comparison with 3 months earlier and it reached 78.0%.
The relative share of gross fixed capital formation in GDP in the fourth quarter of 2019 is 20.8%. According to seasonally adjusted data1 that indicator increased by 3.0% in real terms compared to the same period of the previous year.
Labour market
In the fourth quarter of 2019 there were 3 222.7 thousand employed persons aged 15 years and over, of whom 1 742.3 thousand men and 1 480.4 thousand women. The share of employed persons in the total population aged 15 years and over was 54.0% (61.0% for men and 47.7% for women).
In the fourth quarter of 2019 there were 138.5 thousand unemployed persons, of whom 80.6 thousand (58.2%) men and 57.9 thousand (41.8%) women. The unemployment rate was 4.1%, 4.4% and 3.8% for men and women respectively. In comparison with the fourth quarter of 2018, the unemployment rate went down by 0.6 percentage points, registering the same decrease for men and women.
In the fourth quarter of 2019 the total hourly labour cost (preliminary data) rose by 11.9% compared to the fourth quarter of 2018. The total hourly labour cost grew by 10.5% in industry, by 11.5% in services and by 14.5% in construction.
According to the NSI business inquiries in March 2020 32.7% of the industrial enterprises pointed out the labour shortage as a factor limiting their activity.
In December 2019 the average wage and salary was BGN 1 349 and rose by 4.3% compared to the previous month and by 12.0% compared to December 2018.
Prices
In February 2020 the harmonized index of consumer prices increased by 3.1% compared to February 2019. The highest increase was registred in ‘Food and nonalcoholic beverages’ - by 6.5%. The highest decrease was registered in ‘Communication’ - by 2.0%.
In fourth quarter of 2019 the house price index increased by 6.2% compared to same quarter of 2018.
Producer Price Index on Domestic Market in February 2020 increased by 3.1% compared to the same month of 2019. The prices rose in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply by 7.1%, in the mining and quarrying industry by 1.8% and in manufacturing by 0.7%.
According to the business inquiry in March 2020, the prevailing managers’ expectations are selling prices in industry to remain unchanged over the next 3 months.
