Bulgaria: Average Salary Shows Significant Growth Y/Y

The average salary registered over 10 percent growth year-on- year.On the other hand, the share of remuneration from work in the overall household budgets has shrunk, while the share of incomes from pensions and social benefits has grown.

Despite the reported growth of the average salary up to BGN 1,500, this does not apply to all sectors of the economy. Traditionally, the highest incomes are in the information and communication technologies and in the health sphere - due to the additional payments to the frontline medics.

The sectors requiring higher skills continue to push forward. At the same time we see the effect of stagnating sectors, such as hospitality and restaurant businesses which were hit the hardest by the coronavirus crisis and the salaries in these sectors are the lowest, commented Zornitsa Slavova from the Institute of Market Economics.

The salary is still the largest contribution to a household budget but its share in the overall income is shrinking. For the first time the share of a salary in the households' earnings reached 55 percent due to the impact of the crisis. At the same time the share of social benefits and aid as well as pensions is growing," Zornitsa Slavova added.