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Date stated in the original: 18 December 2015. Review note: 6 November 2026.

The text of the original article

MACROECONOMIC INDICATORS 2015 — image from the original website

Bulgaria ranks 42nd (with the same score as Sweden), ahead of Spain (49), Belgium (52) and Italy (68), out of 177 countries worldwide. This is reported by the Fraser Institute, a Canadian think tank which, since 1995, has compiled the annual Index of Economic Freedom in collaboration with the Wall Street Journal, a ranking intended to show how far countries around the world “allow their citizens to be economically free”. It considers 42 variables grouped into 10 indicators: freedom from corruption, protection of property rights, fiscal fairness, public spending, business freedom, labour freedom, monetary freedom, trade freedom, investment freedom and financial freedom. Bulgaria’s score is 7.33 out of a maximum of 10 (the index is calculated using 2013 data), a slight deterioration compared with the previous report (7.38, 38th place).

ECONOMY AND STATISTICS: YEAR-END ECONOMIC INDICATORS (source: National Statistical Institute—NSI and Bulgarian National Bank—BNB)

  • Inflation in October 2015 was 0.2% compared with the previous month and −0.6% year on year;

  • Bulgaria's population: 7,202,198, representing 1.4% of the EU;

  • GDP growth at the end of the third quarter of 2015 was +2.9 compared with the same period of 2014;

  • The country's employment rate in the third quarter of 2015 was 64.5%, up 1.7% year on year;

  • Unemployment at the end of September 2015 was 8.3%, down 2.5% year on year;

  • −0.2%: the decline in retail turnover in September compared with August (−2.1% year on year);

  • -1.1%: the change in the industrial production index recorded in September compared with the previous month (+0.6% year on year);

  • 99.8%: the producer price index in September (−0.1% compared with the previous month and 2.1% compared with the same period of 2014);

  • 99.7%: the seasonally adjusted construction production index in September (−0.3% compared with the previous month and −2.7% % compared with the same period of 2014).

An examination of Bulgaria’s macroeconomic data at the end of 2015 confirms that the economy is generally recovering, although certain structural weaknesses persist.

The projections for 2016 confirm Bulgaria’s strong economic potential and ability to attract foreign investment; Bulgarian companies are now growing and expanding. 2016 will mark an important economic turning point, giving the economy momentum if the European economy can put the long economic crisis behind it.

The Bulgarian economy therefore represents the best choice for investing in Europe and forming a company in Bulgaria with De Amicis & Petrova Law Firm.