There are positive factors that made Bulgarians richer in the last four months of 2017. They are: sustainable growth of the economy by around 3.6 percent, increased employment rate, reduced unemployment, higher purchasing power of households. Domestic consumption has also gone up, which on its part is a key driver of the economy in this country.

This is the conclusion reached by experts from the Institute for Trade Union and Social Studies of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) on the basis of a study of consumer prices and the cost of living in Bulgaria over past months.

“The picture of average incomes for the country has improved objectively in relation to the cost of living in the past 7-8 years. The growth in the income of people who are employed is outpacing the rise in the cost of living in the country,” says CITUB president PlamenDimitrov. “Yet around 45 percent of households in this country live on incomes in-between the poverty line and the cost of living threshold. The number of people that fall into this category has gone down by 250,000over the space of one year. This is a positive sign because incomes are going up overall and this is pushing some households up in the income scale. 27 percent of households, or around 2 million people live below the poverty line on 314 Leva (161 euro) per household member per month. Compared to last year, the incomes of around 80,000 people have gone up and they no longer fall into this category. The growth rate is fastest of the number of households with an income above the cost of living average. Over one year the number of people with a high income has gone up by 300,000. This shows that there is a certain improvement in household incomes, and they are able to live a normal life, according to our standards. Yet 72 percent of the population do not have the money to cover a normal cost of living threshold in this country. There is a wide margin between the cost of living in Sofia and in the country – around 30 percent. In the capital city one needs around 750 Leva (383 euro) per household member per month, for the countryside this figure stands at 570 Leva (291 euro). The average monthly salary in Sofia is 1,150 Leva (588 euro) and it is around 20 percent below the sum needed to match the cost of living.”

The data of the CITUB study about the fourth quarter of 2017 indicate that to cover its expenses – food, bills, health, education, transport and holidays - a 4-member family needs over 2,200 Leva (1,125 euro) a month. It takes a little over 580 Leva (296 euro) per month to support one family member and this is due to the rise in the prices of foodstuffs and the phased increase in the cost of electricity, water and fuels. The price rise is taking prices in this country closer to average prices in the EU. For example, the prices of foodstuffs have now reached 70 percent of food prices in the other countries, of electricity, gas and fuels – 53 percent, of transport – 65 percent of the EU average. On the other hand incomes and salaries in Bulgaria remain the lowest out of all members of the EU. Compared to Germany, the average monthly salary in Bulgaria is 4 to 6 times lower, the same is true of France and the Netherlands. The Institute for Trade Union and Social Studies quotes a Eurostat report according to which productivity per person is close to 50 percent of the average productivity of labour in Europe. However, salaries are almost half the productivity level in Bulgaria.

English version: Milena Daynova