In 2022: 22.9% of Bulgarians were below the Poverty Threshold of 525.92 Leva per month

In 2022, the total poverty line for Bulgaria was BGN 525.92 per household member per month. With this size of the poverty line, 1.5719 million people, or 22.9% of the country's population, were below the poverty line, according to data from the National Statistical Institute.

Compared to the previous year, the size of the poverty line increased by 4.3% from BGN 504.33 in 2021, and the relative share of the poor population in Bulgaria increased by 0.8 percentage points compared to 22.1% a year earlier. early.

The social protection system is essential for reducing poverty.

Data for 2022 show that if pension income is included in household income, but other social transfers (benefits, social and family allowances and supplements) are excluded, the poverty rate rises from 22.9 to 30.3%, or by 7.4 percentage points within a year.

When pensions and other social transfers are excluded, the poverty level rises to 44.2%, or by 21.3 percentage points.

The main factor increasing the risk of falling into the group of poor for the majority of the population is their economic activity and their participation in the labor market. Over the entire observation period, the relative share of the poor is highest among the unemployed (56.9% for 2022), with the risk of poverty for unemployed men being 3.3 percentage points higher than for unemployed women, shows data from the National Statistical Institute (NSI)

In 2022, the share of the poor among employed persons in the age group 18 - 64 years remains unchanged compared to the previous year - 10%, and the risk of falling into poverty among those working part-time is approximately three times higher than that among those working full-time. At the same time, the risk of poverty among working...