site.btaQ2 Household Incomes Go Up by 16.5% Y/Y, Expenditures by 17.8%

Quarterly household incomes in Bulgaria in the second quarter of 2022 averaged BGN 2,207 per household member, increasing by 16.5% compared with the second quarter of 2021, while quarterly expenditures averaged BGN 1,962 per household member, going up by 17.8%, the National Statistical Institute reported on Monday.

Wages accounted for the largest share of household incomes in the second quarter of 2022, at 54.1%, followed by pensions, at 34.4%, and self-employment, at 4.3%. Compared with the second quarter of 2021, the share of wages dropped by 4.4 percentage points and the share of self-employment went down by 0.7 percentage points, while the share of pensions grew by 5.5 percentage points.

Foods and soft drinks represented the largest share of household expenditures in the second quarter of 2022, at 31.2%, followed by housing maintenance and utility bills, at 17.3%, taxes and social insurance, at 12.8%, and transport and communications, at 12.3%.

In absolute terms, quarterly expenditures for foods and soft drinks rose by 19.3% to BGN 612 per household member, expenditures for alcoholic drinks and cigarettes increased by 11.6% to BGN 78, apparel and footwear by 11.4% to BGN 68, housing maintenance and utility bills by 20.0% to BGN 339, healthcare by 25.8% to BGN 125, transport and communications by 27% to 242, leisure, culture and education by 16.0% to BGN 72, and taxes and social insurance by 6.4% to BGN 251.

Household consumption of most staple foods per household member decreased in the second quarter of 2022 compared with the second quarter of 2021. The largest decreases were recorded for bread and pasta consumption, from 19.6 kg to 18.9 kg, vegetables, from 20.3 kg to 19.4 kg, and fruit, from 10.3 kg to 9.7 kg. Consumption of meat products, cheese, eggs and sugar remained basically unchanged.