Market Overview

General information about Bulgaria

• Area: 110,910 sq. km. / 42,822 square miles
• Population (end 2010): 7 504 868 ( 3 629 809 - males / 3 875 059 - females)
• Real GDP growth rate: 0,2% (2010)
• University degrees: 22% of population
• Native language: Bulgarian
• Foreign languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Russian etc.
• Religion: 83% Eastern Orthodox
• Government: Parliamentary democracy
• Currency: BGN pegged to EUR at 1.95583:1
• Affiliations: EU, NATO, WTO

Geographical and cultural proximity

Bulgaria is situated in the South-Eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. The country's population is about 7.7 million people and its territory spans 110,912 sq.km. Bulgaria borders Greece and Turkey to the South, Macedonia and Serbia - to the West. The Danube River to the North is our natural border with Romania; the Black Sea is situated to the East.

Bulgaria is in the center of a region, which is undergoing dynamic transition. Within 500 km of our capital city, Sofia (1.4 million people), a population of over 90 million lives in 9 countries that have recently embarked on their way to a market economy. This is a large market with a rapidly increasing purchasing power.

A network of international motorways crosses the country, making vital connections to the countries of Western Europe, Russia, Minor Asia, the Adriatic, the Aegean and the Black Sea. Both sea and river transport (the Black Sea and the Danube River) facilitate the trade with the region.

Bulgaria on the global outsourcing map

“Bulgaria maintains its competitiveness vs. Central Europe and Asia” according to A.T. Kearney`s Global Services Location Index for 2011. Analysis show the country is quite close to the category leader Asia in terms of financial attractiveness and first among the countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The infrastructure costs are competitive to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Baltics and Asia. “The financial attractiveness of the country is also based on tax and regulatory costs which are improving solidly even without the possibility for currency depreciation” commented Mr Peter Brishimov, CFA at A.T. Kearney in his presentation on the top outsourcing conference in Bulgaria which took place on 20th April 2011. In his point of view Bulgaria`s business environment is also in line with the trends for improvement even faster than its immediate competitors.

Source:  A.T. Kearney Global