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Bulgaria: Economic and Political Outline
Economic Indicators | Foreign Trade in Figures | Sources of General Economic Information | Political Outline
Bulgaria experienced a strong growth starting from 1996. Successive governments showed a commitment to establishing tax and economic reforms, but they did not manage to control inflation and the current account deficit. During this time, Bulgaria was attracting a lot of FDI; however, the country has been badly hit by the financial crisis of 2008. As a member of the EU since 2007 and therefore subject to certain economic criteria, Bulgaria has since introduced a series of measures aimed at improving its economy and reducing its public deficit.
Today enjoying relative financial stability and having one of the lowest debts on the continent, of only 16% of GDP, since its entrance into the EU, Bulgaria has continues its rapid transition, which was however restrained by the 2011 European crisis. The Bulgarian authorities have now made fiscal governance a priority and the government has implemented an austerity plan to deal with the consequences of the crisis, capping state expenditure, limiting the fiscal deficit to 3% and lowering the public debt.
The country faces many other challenges, including problems of corruption within the administration, a weak judicial system and the spreading of organized crime.
| Main Indicators | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 (e) | 2013 (e) |
| GDP (billions USD) | 48.57 | 47.70e | 54.27 | 57.72 | 60.77 |
| GDP (Constant Prices, Annual % Change) | -5.5 | 0.2 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 3.7 |
| GDP per Capita (USD) | 6,421 | 6,356 | 7,243 | 7,742 | 8,192 |
| General Government Balance (in % of GDP) | -0.2 | -0.9 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 1.0 |
| General Government Gross Debt (in % of GDP) | 15.6 | 17.4e | 17.8e | 20.5 | 20.7 |
| Inflation Rate (%) | 2.5 | 3.0e | 3.8e | 2.9 | 2.9 |
| Unemployment Rate (% of the Labor Force) | 6.9 | 10.3 | 10.2 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| Current Account (billions USD) | -4.34 | -0.47 | 0.89 | 0.33 | -0.91 |
| Current Account (in % of GDP) | -8.9 | -1.0 | 1.6e | -1.5 | - |
Source: IMF - World Economic Outlook Database ; World Bank , Last Available Data
Note: (e) Estimated Data
Traditionally an agricultural country, Bulgaria is now considerably industrialized. The country has a skilled and inexpensive workforce. Nearly a third of the population works in the industrial sector. Bulgaria's main mineral resources include bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, coal, lignite (brown coal), iron ore, oil and natural gas.
Industry still depends on heavy manufacturing sectors (metallurgical, chemical, machine building), which were developed during the socialist period. However, the most dynamic sectors are textile, pharmaceutical products, cosmetic products, and now, the mobile telephone industry and software industry.
| Breakdown of Economic Activity By Sector | Agriculture | Industry | Services |
| Employment By Sector (in % of Total Employment) | 7.1 | 35.2 | 57.6 |
| Value Added (in % of GDP) | 5.4 | 30.3 | 64.3 |
| Value Added (Annual % Change) | 3.0 | 3.5 | 0.9 |
Source: World Bank - Last Available Data.
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| Monetary Indicators | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
| Bulgarian Lev (BGN) - Average Annual Exchange Rate For 1 USD | 1.56 | 1.43 | 1.34 | 1.41 | 1.48 |
Source: World Bank - Last Available Data.
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Distribution of Economic freedom in the world
Source: 2011 Index of Economic freedom, Heritage Foundation
Note: The Economic freedom index measure ten components of economic freedom, grouped into four broad categories or pillars of economic freedom: Rule of Law (property rights, freedom from corruption); Limited Government (fiscal freedom, government spending); Regulatory Efficiency (business freedom, labor freedom, monetary freedom); and Open Markets (trade freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom). Each of the freedoms within these four broad categories is individually scored on a scale of 0 to 100. A country’s overall economic freedom score is a simple average of its scores on the 10 individual freedoms.
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Since joining the European Union, Bulgaria has experienced considerable growth of its trade, despite its large trade balance and recurring deficits. More peripheral than Romania, Bulgaria is less dependent on other European countries, which nevertheless still represent 50% of its exports and imports. The Bulgarian government has a proactive European attitude and trade remain critical to the development of the country.
Bulgarian exports go mainly to Italy, Turkey, Belgium, Greece, the United States and France. Bulgaria mainly exports semi-processed goods and unprocessed products. The country's main imports are food products, fuel, energy and capital goods from Germany, Italy, Russia, Greece, France and Austria. The rise in energy prices has made Russia the leading supplier of Bulgaria, followed by Germany and Italy.
Bulgaria's foreign trade was indirectly affected by the global economic crisis, insofar that Bulgaria's main partner countries, which are in majority European countries, reduced their orders. The current difficulties of the EU economies further worsen this situation, although Bulgarian exports have shown resistance and they are stagnating rather than regression. The case in point was Greece, which was severely affected by the financial crisis and, therefore, strongly reduced its imports from Bulgaria. Considering the country's strengths, Bulgarian foreign trade should resume growth in 2012, depending on the economic improvement of its European partners.
| Foreign Trade Indicators | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
| Imports of Goods (million USD) | 29,961 | 36,908 | 23,539 | 25,341 | 32,114 |
| Exports of Goods (million USD) | 18,518 | 22,362 | 16,318 | 20,620 | 27,976 |
| Imports of Services (million USD) | 4,900 | 5,914 | 5,018 | 4,169 | 4,174 |
| Exports of Services (million USD) | 6,512 | 7,871 | 6,822 | 6,835 | 7,643 |
| Imports of Goods and Services (Annual % Change) | 9.6 | 4.2 | -21.5 | 1.0 | - |
| Exports of Goods and Services (Annual % Change) | 6.1 | 2.4 | -10.3 | 11.2 | - |
| Imports of Goods and Services (in % of GDP) | 79.2 | 78.7 | 55.9 | 62.5 | - |
| Exports of Goods and Services (in % of GDP) | 59.5 | 58.2 | 48.0 | 59.6 | - |
| Trade Balance (million USD) | -10,572 | -12,624 | -5,775 | -3,217 | - |
| Trade Balance (Including Service) (million USD) | -8,972 | -11,570 | - | - | - |
| Foreign Trade (in % of GDP) | 138.6 | 136.9 | 103.9 | 122.1 | - |
Source: WTO - World Trade Organization ; World Bank , Last Available Data
| Main Customers (% of Exports) |
2010 |
| Germany | 10.6% |
| Italy | 9.7% |
| Romania | 9.2% |
| Turkey | 8.5% |
| Greece | 7.9% |
| See More Countries | 54.0% |
| Main Suppliers (% of Imports) |
2010 |
| Russia | 16.1% |
| Germany | 11.7% |
| Italy | 7.4% |
| Romania | 7.0% |
| Greece | 6.0% |
| See More Countries | 51.9% |
Source: Comtrade, Last Available Data
Source: Comtrade, Last Available Data
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Source: Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2011, Reporters Without Borders
Note: The world rankings, published annually, measures the violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position is assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire sent to partner organizations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and activists of human rights, including the main criteria - 44 in total - to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).
Map of freedom 2010
Source: Freedom House
Note: The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.
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Last Updates: May 2012