Bulgaria's January Economic Surge: What Changed Across Sectors?

Bulgaria witnesses a notable improvement in its overall business climate indicator, surging by 3 percentage points from December 2023 to January 2024. The National Statistical Institute (NSI) revealed that this uptick spans across all key sectors—industry, construction, retail trade, and services.

According to NSI, the composite indicator for the business climate in the industry sector rose by 2.6 percentage points in January. This is attributed to enhanced assessments and optimistic expectations from industrial entrepreneurs, coupled with favorable forecasts for production activity in the coming three months.

In the construction sector, the business climate indicator witnessed a significant 4.6 percentage point increase. This rise is credited to the positive outlook of construction entrepreneurs regarding the business situation of enterprises. The NSI survey also highlights an uptick in the percentage of managers anticipating an increase in selling prices within the construction sector in the next three months.

Retail trade experienced a boost with a 2.9 percentage point increase in the business climate indicator. This growth is primarily driven by improved expectations from retailers about the business situation of enterprises over the next six months. Interestingly, retailers do not anticipate any changes in selling prices for the next three months.