Press releases

In December 2023, the turnover in ‘Retail trade, except motor vehicles and motorcycles’ at constant prices decreased by 0.6% compared to the previous month. The data are preliminary and seasonally adjusted.

A decrease was registered in ‘Retail sale of non-food products (except fuel)’ - by 2.7%, and there was an increase by 1.1% in ‘Food, beverages and tobacco’, while the turnover in ‘Automotive fuel in specialised stores’ kept the level of the previous month.

The calendar-adjusted turnover grew by 0.7% compared to the same month in 2022.

A rise by 9.2% was observed in ‘Retail sale of food, beverages and tobacco’. Decrease was registered in ‘Automotive fuel in specialised stores’ and in ‘Non-food products (except fuel)’ - by 3.6% and 3.2%, respectively.

In December 2023, revenues of the subsector ‘Central Government’ were reported in the amount of BGN 5 320.24 million and expenditures - BGN 9 674.51 million, and for the subsector ‘Social Security Funds’ the revenues amounted to BGN 2 658.54 million, and the expenditures are BGN 2 867.70 million.

The data of the ‘Central Government’ subsector are formed on the basis of the monthly cash statements of the budget units, as well as on estimates of the state enterprises reclassified in the subsector, and the data of the ‘Social Security Funds’ subsector - on the basis of the monthly cash statements of the National Insurance Institute and the National Health Insurance Fund.

The information is published on the basis of Article 3(2) of Directive 2011/85 of the EU.

Detailed data can be found on the NSI website under the heading 'Government Finance Statistics'.

In the fourth quarter of 2023, the municipal authorities issued building permits for the construction of 2 275 residential buildings with 16 788 dwellings, 22 administrative buildings/offices and 1 261 other buildings.

The issued building permits for new residential buildings increased by 19.0% as compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. The issued building permits for administrative buildings and other buildings rose by 22.2% and 6.6% respectively.

The construction of 1 535 residential buildings with 7 382 dwellings, 8 administrative buildings/offices and 641 other buildings was started.

As compared to the fourth quarter of 2022, the number of started new residential buildings and other buildings increased by 22.6% and 15.5% respectively. The number of started administrative buildings decreased by 42.9%.

The Total Producer Price Index in Industry fell by 0.6% in December 2023 compared to the previous month. Lower prices were registered in the manufacturing industry by 0.8%, and in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply by 0.4%. The mining and quarrying industry marked a rise of 2.6%.

The Producer Price Index on the Domestic Market decreased by 0.4% in December compared to November 2023. The domestic prices went down in the manufacturing industry by 0.7% and in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply by 0.3%, while in the mining and quarrying industry the prices increased by 0.8%.

The Total Producer Price Index went down by 14.6% in December 2023 compared to the same month in 2022. There was a considerable decrease in prices in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply by 40.4%, and in the mining and quarrying industry by 1.6%. An increase by 0.3% was observed in the manufacturing industry.

The Producer Price Index on the Domestic Market fell by 19.8% compared to December 2022. A drop was reported in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply by 39.5%, in the mining and quarrying industry by 3.0%, while in the manufacturing industry the prices went up by 0.1%.

In January 2024, the total business climate indicator increases by 3.0 percentage points in comparison with December 2023, as a growth of the indicator is registered in all observed sectors - industry, construction, retail trade and services.

The uncertain economic environment, shortage of labour, competition in the branch, insufficient demand and costs of materials continue to be the main factors limiting the business development in the sectors.

The data for the third quarter of 2023 have been published for revenues, expenses and deficit/surplus of the ‘General Government’ sector by sub-sectors: sub-sector ‘Central Government’, sub-sector ‘Local Government’ and sub-sector ‘Social Insurance Funds’, in accordance with Article 3(2) of Directive 2011/85 of the EU.

The data are based on cash reports and trial balances on an accrual basis of the budgetary units, as well as quarterly data on the public enterprises reclassified in the sector.

Detailed data can be found on the NSI website under the heading 'Government Finance Statistics'.

In November 2023, compared to October 2023, an increase is reported for the production of electricity - by 11.6%. A decrease is reported for the production of: liquefied petroleum gases - by 42.9%, motor gasoline - by 10.7%, solid fuels - by 10.6%, and transport diesel - by 7.1%. There is no change for the production of natural gas.

Compared to the same month of the previous year, an increase is not reported for the production of any of the products. A decrease is reported for the production of: liquefied petroleum gases - by 50.0%, solid fuels - by 43.3%, electricity - by 25.8%, transport diesel - by 15.9%, and motor gasoline - by 6.2%. There is no change for the production of natural gas.

In November 2023, compared to October 2023, an increase is reported for the deliveries of: natural gas - by 36.1%, electricity - by 18.7%, motor gasoline - by 6.5%, and transport diesel - by 3.9%. A decrease is reported for the deliveries of: liquefied petroleum gases - by 18.6%, and solid fuels - by 4.6%.

Compared to the same month of 2022, an increase is reported for the deliveries of: motor gasoline - by 28.9%, natural gas - by 17.1%, transport diesel - by 16.1%, and electricity - by 3.0%. A decrease is reported for the deliveries of: solid fuels - by 37.6%, and liquefied petroleum gases - by 14.6%.

In December 2023, the number of trips of Bulgarian residents abroad was 649.1 thousand, or 7.3% above the registered in December 2022.

The trips with other purposes (as a guest, education and visiting cultural and sports events) composed the greatest share of the total number of trips of Bulgarian residents abroad - 44.8%, followed by those with holiday and recreation purposes - 33.5%, and with professional purpose - 21.7%.

The number of visits of non-residents to Bulgaria was 785.4 thousand, or 3.1% more in comparison with the same month of the previous year. The predominant share of the visits was with other purposes - 57.3%, followed by trips with holiday and recreation purposes - 29.0%, and with professional purpose - 13.7%.

Transit passes through the country were 36.5% (286.5 thousand) of all visits of non-residents to Bulgaria.

In 2022, Yugozapaden region has the biggest share (48.9%) in the GDP of Bulgaria, while Severozapaden region has the lowest share (6.7%) in the GDP of the country.

In 2022, the highest level of GDP per capita is in Sofia (stolitsa) - 53 746 BGN, compared to the average 25 956 BGN for the country.

The NSI publishes data for Gross value added and GDP by regions and by economic sectors, according to common definitions and concepts used in the development of a standard system of national accounts for the country and underpin the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010).

Detailed data can be found on the NSI website under the heading 'Gross Domestic Product (GDP)'.

NSI has published 2022 data on energy indicators Primary energy consumption, Final energy consumption by sectors and Energy dependency, calculated from the Overall Energy Balance of the country.

The Primary energy consumption increased by 1.96% compared to the previous year, reaching 18 929.728 thousand toe in 2022. The indicator measures the country’s total energy needs, excluding any non-energy use of energy carriers.

For the Final energy consumption by sectors in 2022 compared to the previous year, the largest increase was observed in services - by 3.35% to 1 343.362 thousand toe. The largest decrease was registered in the final energy consumption in households - by 11.04% to 2 137.397 thousand toe.

The Energy dependency in 2022 marked a slight increase by 0.95 percentage points to 37.13% compared to the previous year. The indicator shows the extent to which a country’s economy depends on imports to meet its energy needs.

Detailed data can be found on the NSI website under the heading ‘Energy’, Overall Energy Balance.