Bulgaria Economy 2008

Economy - overview:
Bulgaria, a former communist country that entered the EU on 1 January 2007, has experienced strong growth since a major economic downturn in 1996. Successive governments have demonstrated commitment to economic reforms and responsible fiscal planning, but have failed so far to rein in rising inflation and large current account deficits. Bulgaria has averaged more than 6% growth since 2004, attracting significant amounts of foreign direct investment, but corruption in the public administration, a weak judiciary, and the presence of organized crime remain significant challenges.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$86.73 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
$30.41 billion (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
6.1% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
$11,800 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 8.1%
industry: 31.3%
services: 60.7% (2007 est.)

Labor force:
3.44 million (2007 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 8.5%
industry: 33.6%
services: 57.9% (2nd qtr. 2006 est.)

Unemployment rate:
8% (2007 est.)

Population below poverty line:
14.1% (2003 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.9%
highest 10%: 25.4% (2005)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
31.6 (2005)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
7.8% (2007 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
27.6% of GDP (2007 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $16.62 billion
expenditures: $15.18 billion (2007 est.)

Public debt:
18.2% of GDP (2007 est.)

Agriculture - products:
vegetables, fruits, tobacco, wine, wheat, barley, sunflowers, sugar beets; livestock

Industries:
electricity, gas, water; food, beverages, tobacco; machinery and equipment, base metals, chemical products, coke, refined petroleum, nuclear fuel

Industrial production growth rate:
5.5% (2007 est.)

Electricity - production:
45.7 billion kWh (2006)

Electricity - consumption:
37.4 billion kWh (2006)

Electricity - exports:
7.8 billion kWh (2006)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2006)

Oil - production:
3,661 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - consumption:
108,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - exports:
51,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - imports:
138,800 bbl/day (2004 est.)

Oil - proved reserves:
15 million bbl (1 January 2006 est.)

natural gas - production:
407,000 cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - consumption:
5.179 billion cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - imports:
5.179 billion cu m (2005)

natural gas - proved reserves:
5.703 billion cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

Current account balance:
-$7.189 billion (2007 est.)

Exports:
$19.77 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Exports - commodities:
clothing, footwear, iron and steel, machinery and equipment, fuels

Exports - partners:
Turkey 12%, Italy 10.4%, Germany 10%, Greece 8.2%, Belgium 6.8%, France 4.3% (2006)

Imports:
$28.79 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Imports - partners:
Germany 15%, Italy 10.6%, Turkey 7.2%, Greece 6.3%, China 5%, France 4.9%, Romania 4.5% (2006)

Economic aid - recipient:
$742 million (2005-06 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$13.8 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Debt - external:
$29.29 billion (30 June 2007)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$20.86 billion (2006 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
$345.8 million (2006 est.)

Market value of publicly traded shares:
$10.32 billion (2006)

Currency (code):
lev (BGL)

Exchange rates:
leva per US dollar - 1.4366 (2007), 1.5576 (2006), 1.5741 (2005), 1.5751 (2004), 1.7327 (2003)