According to the latest data of the National Statistical Institute, the incomes of Bulgarians have risen for the past 12 years by as much as 40 percent. The biggest increase was marked after the country became EU Member State in 2007. All this sounds optimistic but President Rossen Plevneliev revealed what the actual reality is, saying that Bulgarians receive just 47 percent of what an average European receives. It turns out we have been slowly climbing from the bottom of the financial hole, but we are still very far away from the European surface. This is not very encouraging at the backdrop of an economic slowdown and no signs of rising incomes in the near future. Experts even warn of possible freezing of incomes and even their shrinking if economic results worsened.

Anyway, Bulgarians currently live with half the money the average European receives. This obviously means worse standard of living. This is true, but real life is always more colorful than numbers and figures. Although officially about 30% of Bulgarians are poor people who cannot pay their bills, the remaining 70% of citizens live decently. This is evident for everyone on the streets of towns and villages in the country and statistics also show it. In Bulgaria there is virtually no family without a TV, a refrigerator, stove or a washing machine. More than half of Bulgarians have a computer at home, as well as Internet access. There are 3 million cars in a country of 7 million people and something more important - nearly 90% of Bulgarians have their own home. All this shows a good quality of life. It is true that people drive 15-year-old cars and their homes are not few-storey houses with big yards but an own house remains unaffordable luxury to many people in western countries.

It is interesting to analyze the origin of the incomes of Bulgarians. Almost 70% of the money in Bulgarian bank accounts comes from salaries and some 30 percent come from pensions, scholarships, social benefits and other traditional sources. Only a few percent come from rents, dividends, and other exotic financial instruments for this country.

Incomes in this country have been rising at a good pace that is expected to slow down and they still remain half of Europe’s average and would not reach them soon. This is the current situation in Bulgaria with the exception of the capital city of Sofia, where people receive almost European salaries that have been growing each year.

English: Alexander Markov