Sofia attracts half of the foreign investments
Energy is pushing up Stara Zagora and Vratsa
The recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic has rearranged Bulgaria’s least developed economic areas.
Vidinska is no longer the poorest region in the country, after occupying the last place in terms of GDP per person for a decade. According to the new data, it is already ahead of Haskovo, Silistra, Sliven and Pernik. This is according to an analysis by Adrian Nikolov of the Institute of Market Economy for 2021.
“The differences are small – the 10 least developed regions have a GDP of about BGN 2,000, so it will not be a surprise
the coming years will bring new rearrangements”, Nikolov analyzed.
In 2021, there is not a single area that does not report economic growth. However, it is very uneven – while Sofia adds BGN 6.3 thousand GDP per person, Haskovo and Kardzhali grow by only BGN 600 each. Burgas adds BGN 4.4 thousand per person. “For this area, the collapse of tourism in 2020 erased years of development and its recovery will take more than a year,” writes Nikolov in his analysis.
There are no surprises among the leaders in the GDP per capita ranking. Sofia is in the lead with BGN 45 thousand, followed by Stara Zagora with BGN 20 thousand and Sofia region with BGN 19 thousand. of development of Stara Zagora and Vratsa – a process that continues in 2022,” he wrote.
The GDP of Sofia last year was over BGN 59 billion. This is five times more than Plovdiv and seven times more than Varna, the IPI report on the economic profile of Sofia showed.
In 2021, the net sales revenue of non-financial enterprises reached nearly BGN 171 billion. This is a growth of 22.6% compared to 2020.
The leading sectors are trade (20%) and information and communication technologies (7%). Construction is in third place with 13% of the output. This is also the only sector in the capital with a serious drop in sales revenue – 25%.
“In 2021, the trend towards the centralization of Bulgaria’s exports in the capital continues, as it is responsible for 42 out of a total of BGN 103 billion of exported goods and services,” said Petar Ganev from the IPI.
Salaries in Sofia are significantly above the average in all industries. The expected leader is the IT sector, in which the salary in 2021 will be over BGN 4,000. Finance and professional activities are followed by BGN 2,600, as well as state administration – BGN 2,400, said Adrian Nikolov. The added value of one employed person in Sofia reaches over BGN 50,000. For the national economy, it is around BGN 35,000.
“In 2021, Sofia will concentrate 14.7 out of a total of 28.2 billion euros of foreign investments,” explained the IPI. When compared with the population
foreign capitals in the capital reached 11.2 thousand euros
per person at 4.1 thousand euros for the country.
In Sofia, there is also a change in the demographic structure, with the average age now being 35-49, while in 2011, 20-24-year-olds predominated. “The positive news is that children under 15 pass 15%. The new residents of Sofia were 30,000 people, but 22,000 left it,” said Nikolov.
