page_title: Economy of Bulgaria
hierarchical_section_title: Economy of Bulgaria
caption_attribution_description: Collage of the landmarks of Varna, Bulgaria
context_page_description: The economy of Bulgaria functions on the principles of the free market, having a large private sector and a smaller public one. Bulgaria is an industrialised upper-middle-income country according to the World Bank, and is a member of the European Union, World Trade Organization, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation. The Bulgarian economy has experienced significant growth starting from $13.15 billion and reaching estimated gross domestic product of $67.9 billion or $171.185 billion, GDP per capita of $24,595, average gross monthly salary of 1,349 leva, and net average monthly salary of $1,505. The national currency is the lev, pegged to the euro at a rate of 1.95583 leva for 1 euro. The lev is the strongest and most stable currency in Eastern Europe.
  The strongest sectors in the economy are energy, mining, metallurgy, machine building, agriculture and tourism. Primary industrial exports are clothing, iron and steel, machinery and refined fuels.
context_section_description: The economy of Bulgaria functions on the principles of the free market, having a large private sector and a smaller public one. Bulgaria is an industrialised upper-middle-income country according to the World Bank, and is a member of the European Union (EU), World Trade Organization (WTO), Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC). The Bulgarian economy has experienced significant growth (416%) starting from $13.15 billion (nominal, 2000)  and reaching estimated gross domestic product (GDP) of $67.9 billion (nominal, 2019 est.) or $171.185 billion (PPP, 2019 est.), GDP per capita of $24,595 (PPP, 2019 est.), average gross monthly salary of 1,349 leva (690 euro) (December, 2019), and net average monthly salary (adjusted for living costs in PPP) of $1,505 (2019). The national currency is the lev (plural leva), pegged to the euro at a rate of 1.95583 leva for 1 euro. The lev is the strongest and most stable currency in Eastern Europe.
  The strongest sectors in the economy are energy, mining, metallurgy, machine building, agriculture and tourism. Primary industrial exports are clothing, iron and steel, machinery and refined fuels.
  Sofia is the capital and economic heart of Bulgaria and home to most major Bulgarian and international companies operating in the country, as well as the Bulgarian National Bank and the Bulgarian Stock Exchange.
  Plovdiv is the second-largest city and has one of the largest economies in Bulgaria.
  Varna is the third largest city in Bulgaria and the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. Situated strategically in the Gulf of Varna, economically, Varna is among the best-performing and fastest-growing Bulgarian cities.
  The Bulgarian economy has developed significantly in the last 26 years, despite all difficulties after the disband of Comecon in 1991. In the early 1990s, the country's slow pace of privatization, contradictory government tax and investment policies, and bureaucratic red tape kept the foreign direct investment (FDI) among the lowest in the region. Total FDI from 1991 through 1996 was $831 million.
  In December 1996, Bulgaria joined the World Trade Organization. After this, in the years since 1997, however, Bulgaria has begun to attract substantial foreign investment. In 2004 alone, over 2.72 billion euro ($3.47 billion) were invested by foreign companies. In 2005, economists observed a slowdown to about 1.8 billion euro ($2.3 billion) in the FDI, which is attributed mainly to the end of the privatization of the major state owned companies.
  After joining the European Union in 2007, Bulgaria registered a peak in foreign investment of about 6 bln euro.
  Low productivity and competitiveness on the European and world markets alike due to inadequate R&D funding, however, still remain a significant obstacle for foreign investment.
  Nevertheless, according to the latest Annual report of the Economic Research Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the average salary in Bulgaria is a quarter (1/4) of the average salary in the European Union, and should be two times higher when the labour productivity is calculated in the formula.
  During the Great Recession, Bulgaria saw its economy decline by 5.5% in 2009, but quickly restored positive growth levels to 0.2% in 2010, in contrast to other Balkan countries. However, the growth continued to be weak in the following years, and GDP only reached pre-crisis levels in 2014.
caption: Varna
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