site.btaBulgaria Records EU's Highest Employment Growth in Q3/2022 Compared with Q2/2022

Bulgaria's employment growth in the third quarter of 2022 compared with the second quarter of 2022 was highest in the EU, at 0.8 percentage points, according to seasonally adjusted data reported by the Statistical Office of the European Commission (Eurostat) on Monday. The rate applies to the population aged 20 to 64.

Other high increases were recorded in Belgium (+0.7 pp) as well as in Portugal and Cyprus (both +0.4 pp). Overall, employment in the EU remained stable.

Bulgaria had the EU's second-highest increase (+16.3%) in hourly labour costs in the third quarter of 2022 compared with the third quarter of 2021, the data show. The average rate in the EU was +3.4%. In Bulgaria, wage costs rose by 16.3%, and indirect labour costs went up by 15.8%.

In 2021, the average annual full-time adjusted salary for employees in Bulgaria was EUR 10,300, which was the lowest level in the EU. The average EU rate was EUR 33,500.