site.btaFirst-Quarter GDP Goes Up by 4.5% Y/Y

Bulgaria's GDP in the first quarter of 2022 expanded by 4.5% compared with the first quarter of 2021, the Finance Ministry says in its Monthly Report on the Bulgarian Economy, citing flash estimates by the National Statistical Institute (NSI). The increase was driven by final consumption, which went up by 6.6%. Exports increased by 11.8%, while imports went up by 13.6%. Gross fixed capital formation decreased by 6.1%.

Consolidated government debt dropped to 21.5% of projected GDP, as EUR 2.4 billion was repaid at the end of March on an expiring 7-year Eurobond issued on the international capital markets.

Nominal wage growth between end-March 2021 and end-March 2022 was 9%, offsetting the observed increase in consumer prices. Recent wage dynamics slightly decelerated compared to 2021. Unlike the previous year, the public sector reported a significantly lower growth rate of 1.8%, while wages in the private sector retained a double-digit rate at 11.6%.

Labour market indicators have already come back to the levels observed in 2019, the last year before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the NSI Labour Force Survey quoted by the Finance Ministry. As at the end of March 2022, the participation rate of the population aged 15 to 64 was 72.0%, the employment rate was 68.4%, and the unemployment rate was 5.0%. Compared with the end of March 2021, employment increased by 1.3%, which was mainly due to the recovery of economic activity in services. The end-March unemployment rate decreased by 1.4 points, year on year.