About the ILO in Bulgaria

Labour marker recovered to pre-pandemic level though adverse effects persist in some sectors

After a lost decade of transition in the 1990s, Bulgaria only made progress towards economic gains and shared prosperity in the 2000s based on growth rates of 4 to 6 per cent per year. After a sharp drop at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 (-4.4 per cent), the Bulgarian economy has almost fully recovered from the pandemic-induced shock. Job retention schemes, positive wage dynamics, higher pension expenditures, and low household debt supported the fast recovery. Real GDP rebounded by 4.2 per cent in 2021. Due to continuing population decline, an extremely tight labour market, the economic impact of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, and deficiencies in infrastructure and the institutional environment, slower growth is expected for coming years.   Continue reading