Bulgaria is first in the EU in terms of salary growth with 16.5% for the last quarter of last year on an annual basis. In the private sector, the increase is even greater – by 17.7%, Shteryo Nozharov, economic advisor at BIA, said in an interview.
The sectors with the highest price growth last year also raised wages the most.
In Sofia, the average remuneration is also inflated by the concentration of many ministries and departments, financial services and IT.
The statistical data on wages in Vratsa are distorted by the high remunerations at the Kozloduy NPP, and in Stara Zagora by the salaries at Maritsa-Iztok.
Bulgaria is first in the EU in terms of salary growth with 16.5% for the last quarter of last year on an annual basis. In the private sector, the increase is even greater - by 17.7%, Shteryo Nozharov, an economic adviser at the Bulgarian Industrial Association stated.
The largest growth was in the "Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries" sector - with 23.1%.
According to Nozharov, there are two main factors for this. On the one hand, there is the export of agricultural goods. He gave the example of eggs, which sell very well in Greece and France. The other factor pressuring farmers to raise wages is a shrinking active labor force due to increased migration.
The sector "Production and distribution of electric and thermal energy and gaseous fuels" is the second in terms of wage growth with 23.1%. In the electricity industry, the reason for this is the "golden rain" for the companies in the sector due to the extremely high electricity prices. For the first half of 2021, the prices on the day ahead market were BGN 112 per megawatt hour. And for the period from July 2021 to February this year they swelled to an average of 415 BGN, experts give an example.
The average gross monthly salary in Bulgaria as of December it is already BGN 1,947, according to statistics. The difference between Sofia and the second largest city, Plovdiv, is BGN 1,000 in favor of the capital. One of the reasons for the high salaries in Sofia is the concentration of many ministries and departments. In the "State Administration" sector, remunerations exceed those in the private sector by an average of BGN 220. Another reason is that many financial services are concentrated in the capital, and those working in banks and insurance companies are traditionally among the best-paid employees, with an average salary of BGN 2,853. Many programmers also work in Sofia, whose salaries start at 3,300 BGN, and for heads of large companies they hit 12 BGN. Average salaries in the IT sector are already 4,417 BGN, statistics show.
