The Average Bulgarian is Paying less for Food and more for Taxes

The budgets of the Bulgarian families have undergone significant metamorphoses in recent years. There is a clear trend - the burden on food costs is decreasing, but the burden of tax and social security increases, says an analysis of the Institute for Market Economics (IME).

It turns out that in this respect we are becoming more and more like others in the EU. Between 2008 and 2016, the share of spending on food and non-alcoholic beverages in the total budget of the Bulgarian has dropped from 36.6% to 30.8% and it is quite possible in the coming year to go down to below 30%, as is the case in all remaining members of the European Union, Yavor Alexiev from IME commented.

Beyond the average figures, however, there are huge differences. For the richest ten percent of households in our country, everyday goods for consumption account for less than 25 percent of all spending, while for the poorest 10 percent food and beverages cost over 43 percent of the family budget. This is the data of the NSI for last year.

Similar is the picture when considering the burden of household bills - for electricity, gas, water, heating, etc. The poorest pay 20% of their whole income. And people with the highest incomes cover those expenses with just one-tenth of their budgets.

Dramatic are differences on the "rich-poor" axis in the cost of culture, education, tourism, entertainment. People who have difficulty make both ends meet spend the symbolic 2.4%. And the wealthiest households spend 7.4% of their budgets on cinema, opera, theater, books, learning, holidays, excursions, and so on.

Even more obvious are the disparities in payments for taxes and social security contributions. For the poorest one-tenth of the population, they are only 3.8% of all expenses....