site.btaAt 35.8%, Food and Nonalcoholic Drinks Account for Largest Share of Consumer Expenses in 2022

Food and nonalcoholic drinks accounted for the largest share of Bulgarian consumers' expenses in 2022, at 35.8%, followed by housing-related costs, 17.2%, and transport costs, 8.9%, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) reported on its internet page on World Consumer Rights Day, March 15.

Consumer spending on alcohol and tobacco products has been decreasing (4.7% in 2022), which the NSI described as a positive trend.

March 15 was declared World Consumer Rights Day by the United Nations General Assembly in 1985. Bulgaria adopted its first separate law on consumer protection and trade rules in 1999.

Reporting recently on his department's performance over the last nine months, Economy and Industry Minister Bogdan Bogdanov said that the reform of the Commission for Consumer Protection (CCP) is one of the tasks which have not been completed. In the middle of December 2023 Bogdanov stripped the CCP leadership of his confidence and demanded their resignations, citing ever more frequent alerts against the regulator. So far in 2024 such alerts have increased by more than 60% compared with the like period in 2022 and 2021, he said.