Employees and average wages and salaries - Third quarter of 2025

The number of employees under labour contract at the end of September 2025 decreased by 28.9 thousand, or 1.2%, as compared to the end of June 2025, and reached 2.36 million according to the preliminary data of the National Statistical Institute (NSI). The highest decrease was observed in the following economic activities: ‘Accommodation and food service activities’ - by 14.9%, ‘Agriculture, forestry and fishing’ - by 3.3%, and ‘Real estate activities’ - by 3.0%.

At the end of September 2025, as compared to September 2024, the number of employees under labour contract increased by 30.1 thousand, or 1.3%. The highest increase in absolute figures was observed in the economic activities ‘Human health and social work activities’ - by 11.8 thousand, ‘Construction’ - by 8.0 thousand, and ‘Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles’ - by 5.5 thousand, and the highest decrease was in ‘Manufacturing’ - by 8.1 thousand, and in ‘Agriculture, forestry and fishing’ - by 3.0 thousand. In percentages, the highest increase at the end of September 2025 as compared to September 2024 was in the economic activity ‘Arts, entertainment and recreation’ - by 6.2%, in ‘Construction’ - by 6.1%, and in ‘Human health and social work activities’ - by 6.0%, as the highest decrease was reported in ‘Agriculture, forestry and fishing’ - by 4.5%, and in ‘Mining and quarrying’ - by 1.9%.

The average monthly wages and salaries of the employees under labour contract in July was 2 570 BGN, in August - 2 497 BGN, and in September 2025 - 2 580 BGN.

In the third quarter of 2025, in comparison with the second quarter of 2025, the average monthly wages and salaries decreased by 0.9% and reached 2 549 BGN. The highest decrease in wages and salaries was reported in: ‘Education’ - by 4.0%, ‘Arts, entertainment and recreation’ - by 3.8%, and in ‘Human health and social work activities’ - by 1.8%.

Compared to the third quarter of 2024, the average monthly wages and salaries in the third quarter of 2025 rose by 12.0%. The highest growth rates were recorded in the economic activities: ‘Administrative and support service activities’ - by 17.5%, ‘Construction’ - by 16.5%, and ‘Education’ - by 16.4%.

The economic activities with the highest wages and salaries in the third quarter of 2025 were:

• ‘Information and communication’ - 5 512 BGN;
• ‘Financial and insurance activities’ - 3 716 BGN;
• ‘Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply’ - 3 539 BGN.

The lowest wages and salaries were recorded in:

• ‘Accommodation and food service activities’ - 1 586 BGN;
• ‘Agriculture, forestry and fishing’ - 1 763 BGN;
• ‘Other service activities’ - 1 774 BGN.

In comparison with a year earlier, the average monthly wages and salaries in the public sector grew by 14.2% and by 11.3% in the private sector.

Methodological notes

The source of information is the ‘Quarterly Survey on employees, hours worked, wages and salaries, and other expenditures paid by the employer’. The main purpose of this sample survey is to make a study of the current state and dynamics of some main aspects of the labour market. The sample used for the survey is a stratified random sample without replacement. Stratification criteria used include: economic activity (NACE, Rev. 2), size of the enterprise (according to the number of employees) and regional breakdown (28 districts, NUTS3).

Annex