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All international indicators, including those of the International Monetary Fund, the ECB and Eurostat, have confirmed the revival of the Bulgarian economy. Unemployment is falling sharply while inflation remains low, still far from European targets.
Bulgaria recorded economic growth of 2.9% in the first quarter. According to preliminary National Statistical Institute (NSI) figures released on Tuesday, Bulgaria's economy grew by 2.9% in the first quarter of this year compared with the same quarter of 2015. GDP exceeded BGN 18.5 billion, or BGN 2,589 per capita. This represented an increase of 0.7% over the last quarter of 2015. In the first quarter of 2016, gross value added (GVA) exceeded BGN 15.8 billion, an increase of 2.6% compared with the same quarter last year. Compared with the first quarter of 2015, final consumption rose by 2.1%, exports of goods and services increased by 0.3%, while imports fell by 1.3%. Agriculture's relative share of the economy's value added fell by 0.3 percentage points compared with the same quarter of 2015, to 2.8%. Industry's relative share fell by 0.2 percentage points to 29.4%. Services increased their share from 67.3% in the first quarter of 2015 to 67.8% in the same quarter this year. Investment in the first quarter amounted to 16.3% of GDP, and the balance of trade in goods and services was positive. Compared with the final quarter of 2015, GVA increased by 1%, final consumption by 0.4%, exports of goods and services remained unchanged, and imports fell by 1.2%.
Source: Novinite