2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tax wedge on labour costs | 33.6 | 33.6 | 34.3 | 34.9 | 34.9 |
Explanatory notes: |
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Tax wedge on labour costs = 100* (T + SSC + SSCe) / (GE + SSCe + Tp) | |||||
T - personal income tax. | |||||
SSC - employee's social security contributions. | |||||
SSCe - employer's social security contributions. | |||||
Gross earnings (GE) - gross earnings, calculated as 67% of the AW earnings. | |||||
Tp - payroll taxes paid on behalf of employer (not applicable in Bulgaria). | |||||
AW - average worker, working at full-time and receiving the average gross earnings in industries and services - sections B to N of NACE Rev. 2. |
Tax wedge on labour costs

Contact | |
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Contact organisation | National Statistical Institute |
Contact organisation unit | "Labour Statistics" Department |
Contact name | Emilia Milosheva |
Contact person function | State expert |
Contact mail address | 2, P. Volov Str. |
Contact email address | |
Contact phone number | +35929857610 |
Contact fax number | |
Metadata update | |
Metadata last certified | 30 June 2014 |
Metadata last posted | 30 June 2014 |
Metadata last update | 30 June 2014 |
Statistical presentation | |
Data description | "Net earnings and Tax rates" is a group of indicators and variables based on illustrative models developed by OECD. Information is provided on: a) net earnings - information is provided for the variables: total labour costs, gross earnings, social security contributions, income taxes, family allowances, net earnings; b) tax rates; c) tax wedge on labour costs; d) unemployment trap; e) low wage trap. All indicators and variables are based on gross earnings, social security contributions, personal income tax, family allowances and other benefits. Data refer to an average worker in different illustrative cases, defined on the bases of marital status (single vs. married), number of workers (in case of couples), number of dependent children and level of gross earnings, expressed as percentage of the average earnings of an average worker. |
Classification system | · National Classification of Economic Activities (NCEA-2003, for international use NACE.BG 2003) - up to 2007; · Classification of Economic Activities (CEA-2008, for international use NACE.BG 2008) - since 2008. |
Sector coverage | Economic activities within sections C to K of NACE.BG-2003 from 2000 to 2007, and since 2008 in sections B to N of NACE.BG-2008. |
Statistical concepts and definitions | All indicators and variables are based on gross earnings, social security contributions, personal income tax, family allowances and other benefits. Data refer to an average worker in different illustrative cases, defined on the bases of marital status (single vs. married), number of workers (in case of couples), number of dependent children and level of gross earnings, expressed as percentage of the average earnings of an average worker. According to the model developed by OECD, the average worker (AW) is a full-time employee who receives the average earnings in industries and services - sections C to K of NACE.BG-2003 from 2000 to 2007, and since 2008 in sections B to N of NACE.BG-2008. Gross earnings cover remuneration in cash, paid during the reference year by the employer, before tax deductions and social security contributions payable by employees and retained by the employer. All regular and irregular bonuses are included. Severance payments and payments in kind are excluded. Net earnings are the annual net incomes for the corresponding family case, calculated from the gross earnings by deducting employees' social security contributions and personal income taxes, and adding family allowances (if applicable). The following situations are considered: - single person with no children and earnings level of 50%, 67%, 80%, 100%, 125% and 167% of the AW respectively; - single person with two children and earnings level of 67% of the AW; - married couple with two children and the following levels of earnings of the AW: husband 100%/wife 0%; husband 100%/wife 33%; husband 100%/wife 67%; husband 100%/wife 100%; - married couple with no children and earnings levels as percentage of the AW: husband 100%/wife 33%; husband 100%/wife 100%. The average tax rate is defined as the income tax on gross earnings plus the employee's social security contributions less family allowances, expressed as a percentage of gross wage earnings. The tax wedge on labour costs is defined as income tax on gross wage earnings plus employee's and employer's social security contributions, expressed as a percentage of the total labour costs. The total labour costs are defined as the total from the gross earnings plus employer?s social security contributions plus payroll taxes, paid by the employer (not applicable in Bulgaria). The unemployment trap measures the percentage of gross earnings which is taxed away by the combined effect of the levied taxes and social contributions and the withdrawal of unemployment, and other benefits, when an unemployed person returns to employment. The low wage trap (LWT) measures the percentage of gross earnings which is taxed away by the combined effect of the levied taxes and social contributions and the withdrawal of social benefits, when employee's gross earnings increase from 33% to 67% of the AW. LWT provides information on the financial consequences for an employed person when increasing his/her work efforts (either as an increased number of hours worked or due to changes in skills) and thus of his/her wages. The indicator is calculated for: - single person with no children; - one-earner married couple with two children. Methods of calculations of indicators are described in the document "Net earnings and tax rates - definitions and models": http://www.nsi.bg/sites/default/files/files/metadata/Labour_Methodology_2.3_EN.pdf |
Statistical unit | The statistical unit is the family. All situations are illustrative and may not be representative in Bulgaria. |
Statistical population | All families in Bulgaria. |
Reference area | Area of Republic of Bulgaria. |
Time coverage | 2000 - 2012 |
Base period | Not applicable. |
Unit of measure | |
BGN, percent (%). | |
Reference period | |
Calendar year | |
Institutional mandate | |
Legal acts and other agreements | The data are collected on the basis of gentlemen's agreements. |
Data sharing | Not applicable. |
Confidentiality | |
Confidentiality - policy | · Law on Statistics (Statistics Act); · Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society. |
Confidentiality - data treatment | Not applicable. |
Release policy | |
Release calendar | Not part from the release calendar. |
Release calendar access | Not applicable. |
User access | Data are published on the website of NSI under heading "Labour market" in accordance with Law on Statistics (Chapter 5) and the European Statistics Code of Practice respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. |
Frequency of dissemination | |
Annual | |
Accessibility and clarity | |
News release | None. |
Publications | None. |
On-line database | Indicators are accessible to all users on the NSI's website under heading Labour market - Annual statistics on employment and labour cost - Structural indicators: · Net earnings and average tax rate: http://www.nsi.bg/en/node/6445 · Tax wedge on labour costs: http://www.nsi.bg/en/node/6448 · Unemployment trap: http://www.nsi.bg/en/node/6451 · Low wage trap: http://www.nsi.bg/en/node/6454 |
Micro-data access | Not applicable. |
Other | Not applicable. |
Documentation on methodology | Methodology used is published in the annual editions of OECD: · "Taxing wages" - http://www.oecd.org/media/oecdorg/directorates/centrefortaxpolicyandadministration/Methodology_2011.pdf · "Benefits and Wages". Methods of calculations are described in the document "Net earnings and tax rates - definitions and models: http://www.nsi.bg/sites/default/files/files/metadata/Labour_Methodology_2.3_EN.pdf |
Quality documentation | None. |
Quality management | |
Quality assurance | According to Article 2, Para 3 of the Bulgarian Law on Statistics statistical information shall be produced in compliance with the following criteria for quality: adequacy, accuracy, timeliness, punctuality, accessibility and clarity, comparability and logical consistency. |
Quality assessment | Not done. |
Relevance | |
User needs | Main users are Eurostat and OECD. (Until 2007 NSI did calculations by the established methodology and delivered figures to Eurostat. Since 2008 calculations are done by OECD based on a questionnaire answered annually by NSI concerning characteristics of social and tax legislation in Bulgaria). |
User satisfaction | Survey on users' satisfaction is not carried out. |
Completeness | All indicators from the group are calculated. |
Accuracy and reliability | |
Overall accuracy | Source of data on gross annual earnings in industries and services is the annual survey on "Employed persons, wages and salaries and other labour costs" which is an exhaustive statistical survey. |
Sampling error | Not applicable. |
Non-sampling error | Not applicable. |
Timeliness and punctuality | |
Timeliness | Deadline for publication: 12 months after the reference year. |
Punctuality | Punctuality depends on the availability of data on gross annual earnings. |
Coherence and comparability | |
Comparability - geographical | Definitions and methodology of OECD are applied. |
Comparability - over time | Comparability over time is influenced by the change of the classification of economic activities used for definition of average gross annual earnings in industries and services - economic activities within sections C to K of NACE.BG 2003 from 2000 to 2007, and since 2008 in sections B to N of NACE.BG 2008. |
Coherence - cross domain | Indicators within the data set are internally coherent. |
Coherence - internal | All utilized models are illustrative, representing hypothetical situations and may not be representative at national level or compliant with other sources of similar information. |
Cost and burden | |
Survey on respondents' burden is not carried out. | |
Data revision | |
Data revision - policy | It is applied only if there is revision of gross annual earnings which is base for calculation of the indicators. |
Data revision - practice | It is applied only if there is revision of gross annual earnings which is base for calculation of the indicators. |
Statistical processing | |
Source data | Source of data on gross annual earnings in industries and services is the annual survey "Employed persons, wages and salaries and other labour costs" which is an exhaustive statistical survey: |
Frequency of data collection | Not applicable. |
Data collection | Not applicable. |
Data validation | Arithmetic checks are applied on the calculations. |
Data compilation | Calculated are aggregated average annual earnings for sections B to N of NACE.BG-2008. |
Adjustment | Not applicable. |
Comment |
-
Monday, 22 March 2021 - 11:00
Preliminary data of the NSI for the fourth quarter of 2020 indicate that the total hourly labour cost rose by 10.0% compared to the fourth quarter of 2019.
-
Monday, 15 March 2021 - 11:00
In 2020 the unemployment rate achieved 5.1%, by 0.9 percentage points higher in comparison with 2019.
The employment rate for the age group 20 - 64 years was 73.4%, by 1.6 percentage points lower compared to 2019.
-
Monday, 15 February 2021 - 11:00
In the fourth quarter of 2020 the unemployment rate was 5.2%, and the employment rate of population aged 20 - 64 was 73.8%.
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Friday, 12 February 2021 - 11:00
According to the preliminary data of the National Statistical Institute at the end of December 2020 the number of employees under labour contract decreased by 0.9% as compared to the end of September 2020 and reached 2.23 million.
In the fourth quarter of 2020 in comparison with the third quarter of 2020 the average monthly wages and salaries increased by 4.7% getting 1 437 BGN.
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Monday, 21 December 2020 - 11:00
Preliminary data of the NSI for the third quarter of 2020 indicate that the total hourly labour cost rose by 3.5% compared to the third quarter of 2019.
-
Monday, 16 November 2020 - 11:00
In the third quarter of 2020 the unemployment rate was 4.8%, and the employment rate of population aged 20 - 64 was 74.6%.
-
Thursday, 12 November 2020 - 11:00
According to the preliminary data of the National Statistical Institute at the end of September 2020 the number of employees under labour contract increased by 0.4% as compared to the end of June 2020 and reached 2.25 million.
In the third quarter of 2020 in comparison with the second quarter of 2020 the average monthly wages and salaries increased by 2.7% getting 1 373 BGN.
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Monday, 21 September 2020 - 11:00
Preliminary data of the NSI for the second quarter of 2020 indicate that the total hourly labour cost rose by 9.9% compared to the second quarter of 2019.
-
Friday, 14 August 2020 - 11:00
In the second quarter of 2020 the unemployment rate was 5.9%, and the employment rate of population aged 20 - 64 was 72.2%.
-
Wednesday, 12 August 2020 - 11:00
According to the preliminary data of the National Statistical Institute at the end of June 2020 the number of employees under labour contract decreased by 1.0% as compared to the end of March 2020 and reached 2.24 million.
In the second quarter of 2020 in comparison with the first quarter of 2020 the average monthly wages and salaries increased by 1.5% getting 1 337 BGN.
Pages
- Key Indicators for Bulgaria (as of 05.04.2021)
-
Structure of Earnings 2018
The National Statistical Institute (NSI) of Bulgaria presents to the users of statistical information the publication ‘Structure of Earnings 2018’. It contains data from the representative Structure of Earnings Survey for 2018 (SES 2018) carried out by the NSI. The SES 2018 is the fifth of a series of four-yearly surveys to be conducted under the Council Regulation (EC) No. 530/1999, the Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1916/2000 (amended) and the Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1738/2005.
- Key Indicators for Bulgaria (as of 31.12.2020)
- Key Indicators for Bulgaria (as of 05.10.2020)
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Employment and Unemployment - annual data 2019
The National Statistical Institute presents the annual electronic edition Employment and Unemployment - annual data 2019 to the users.
The bilingual (Bulgarian-English) publication presents annual average data from the Labour force survey. The Labour force survey is a sample statistical survey on households for examination of the economic activity of the population aged 15 years and over.
The methodology of the survey has been developed according to ILO and Eurostat recommendations.
- Key Indicators for Bulgaria (as of 06.07.2020)
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Statistical Reference Book 2020
The National Statistical Institute presents to users of statistical information the annual publication - Statistical Reference Book 2020 in English.
The Statistical Reference Book presents topical information on the demographic processes as well as the economic, social and cultural development of the Republic of Bulgaria for the 2016 - 2019 period.
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Statistical Reference Book 2020 (Bulgarian version)
The National Statistical Institute presents to users of statistical information the annual publication - Statistical Reference Book 2020 in Bulgarian.
The Statistical Reference Book presents topical information on the demographic processes as well as the economic, social and cultural development of the Republic of Bulgaria for the 2016 - 2019 period.
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Statistical Yearbook 2019
The National Statistical Institute (NSI) has the pleasure to present to the attention of national and foreign users of statistical information the 87th edition of the ‘Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Bulgaria’ in printed and electronic format.
It provides current statistical information about the demographic, economic and social development of the country for 2013 - 2018 in different territorial and classification aggregations and breakdowns.
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Key Indicators for Bulgaria (as of 06.04.2020)
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