site.btaAverage Wage Y/Y Rise Slows to 13.1% in Second Quarter of 2023

The year-on-year rise of the average wage in Bulgaria slowed to 13.1% in the second quarter of 2023 after hitting 17.3% in the first quarter of 2023, which was its steepest year-on-year increase since the beginning of 2022, according to early estimates released by the National Statistical Institute (NSI) on Friday.

The rise of the average wage outpaced inflation for another quarter.

The average monthly wage in the second quarter of 2023 stood at BGN 1,957, going up by 4% compared with the first quarter of 2023. The highest quarter-on-quarter increase was registered in the construction sector (+8.5%), followed by hotels and restaurants (+8.3%), and electricity, heat and gas production and distribution (+7.5%).

In the second quarter of 2023 compared with the second quarter of 2022, the average monthly wage grew by 13.1%. The highest growth was reported in electricity, heat and gas production and distribution (+22.3%), followed by construction (+17.4%), and transport, storage and post (+17.2%).

According to the NSI, annual inflation in April 2023 was 11.6%, in May 2023 it was 10.1%, and in June 2023 it stood at 8.7%. Back in the first quarter of 2023, annual inflation was 16.4% in January, 16% in February and 14% in March.

The highest average monthly wage in the second quarter of 2023 was reported in the sector of producing and disseminating information and artistic products, and telecommunications (BGN 4,732), followed by electricity, heat and gas production and distribution (BGN 3,061), and finance and insurance (BGN 2,915). The lowest average monthly wages were paid in the hotel and restaurant business (BGN 1,189), "other" activities (BGN 1,261), and agriculture, forestry and fisheries (BGN 1,406).

In the public sector, the average monthly wage in the second quarter of 2023 rose by 10.1% compared with the second quarter of 2022, and in the private sector it went up by 14.1%.

By the end of June 2023, people in an employment relationship or a civil service relationship increased by 25,200 (1.1%) from the end of March 2023, reaching 2.33 million, early NSI estimates show.

Back in the first quarter of 2023, the average wage was BGN 1,882, going up by 0.2% compared with the fourth quarter of 2022 and 17.3% compared with the first quarter of 2022.