Statistical data

According to the preliminary data for the third quarter of 2018 the total turnover index in section ‘Transportation, storage and post’, calculated on the basis of seasonally adjusted data increased by 1.0% compared to the second quarter of 2018. In section ‘Information and communication’ the turnover index grew by 4.2%.

In the third quarter of 2018, 1 882.7 thousand Bulgarian residents made tourist trips. The majority (79.8%) of them travelled only within the country, 14.8% - only abroad and 5.4% - both in the country and abroad. Compared to the same quarter of 2017 the total number of the travelled persons aged 15 and over decreased by 5.5%, as a reduction was observed in the number of the Bulgarian residents travelled only in the country or only abroad respectively by 8.3% and 3.1% of them, while the number of the Bulgarian residents travelled both in the country and abroad increased by 56.8%.

The total income average per household member during the third quarter of 2018 is 1 541 BGN and increases by 7.7% compared to the same quarter of 2017.

The total expenditure average per household member during the third quarter of 2018 is 1 518 BGN and increases by 9.8% in comparison with the same quarter of 2017.

The consumption of main food products average per household member is without considerable change during the third quarter of 2018 compared to the same quarter of 2017.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the third quarter of 2018 increased by 0.3% in the EU-28 compared to the previous quarter by seasonally adjusted data. For the same period, GDP in Bulgaria increased by 0.5%.

According to the seasonally adjusted data, the GDP growth rate in the third quarter of 2018 is 3.0% compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

In the third quarter of 2018 the unemployment rate was 5.0% and the employment rate of population aged 20 - 64 was 73.5%.

The investment business inquiry of NSI carried out among industrial enterprises in October 2018 shows that the entrepreneurs expect the investments in the current year to be with 12.7% less in comparison with the previous 2017. The forecasts over 2019 are for a decrease of the volume of investments in industry by 8.7% compared to 2018.

The consumer price index in October 2018 compared to September 2018 was 100.7%, i.e. the monthly inflation was 0.7%.

In the period January - August 2018 exports of goods from Bulgaria to the EU increased by 11.1% compared to the same period of 2017 and amounted to 24 917.5 Million BGN while the imports of goods grew by 8.7% and added up to 26 369.1 Million BGN.

In August 2018 the exports of goods to the EU increased by 13.0% compared to the corresponding month of the previous year and amounted to 3 307.1 Million BGN while the imports of goods decreased by 6.4% and added up to 2 970.6 Million BGN.

In the period January - September 2018 the exports of goods from Bulgaria to third countries decreased by 21.3% compared to the same period of 2017 and amounted to 11 649.3 Million BGN while the imports of goods from third countries increased by 6.1% and added up to 16 554.6 Million BGN.

In the period January - September 2018 the total value of all exported goods (both for third countries and EU) amounted to 39 795.2 Million BGN, which is 1.5% less than the same period of the previous year, while the total value of all imported goods added up to 46 154.3 Million BGN and grew by 7.5%.