site.btaField Work Officers Make Up 86.6% of Interior Ministry Employees, Administration Is Below 13%

The Interior Ministry has the second lowest relative share of general administration with 12.52%, while 86.6% of the staff of its regional directorates and the Sofia Directorate is made up by employees performing on the field activities, the Ministry said in connection with an analysis by the Institute for Market Economics.

The Ministry adds that 11,149 officers with police powers work in the main directorates of the Interior Ministry which include the National Police General Directorate, the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime, the General Directorate Gendarmerie, the Special Operations and Counter-Terrorism unit, the Border Police General Directorate and the Fire Safety and Population Protection General Directorate.

The average share of the general administration is at 10%, supporting directors in their capacity as secondary budget spending units.

According to the Ministry, between May 2009 and July 2024, staff was reduced by 14,658. In the second half of 2009, the Ministry was assigned extra activities for which no new staff was recruited.

In addition to law enforcement and fire safety and population protection, the Ministry has specialized administration which carries out specific activities and functions.

An IME analysis, published on September 20, says that in 2024 there was an unprecedented increase in funding for the Interior Ministry, which as it is not tied to reforms, will not increase the low public trust in the police and will not improve significantly the working conditions in the system. Bulgaria continues to be the EU country with the highest spending for the police. At an EU average 1.7% of GDP, spending on internal order and security ranges from 0.7% in Ireland to an unprecedented 2.5% in Bulgaria, the Institute added. Less than 10% of the total number of police officers work on the field in the districts of Smolyan, Silistra, Kardzhali and the capital. The highest share – at nearly 15% - is in the districts of Pernik and Yambol, the IME said.

The regional directorates of the Interior Ministry employ more than 25,000 people, of whom less than 3,000 are involved in security, crime prevention and investigation.