site.btaGender Employment Gap in Bulgaria Down by 0.7% in 2022, by 0.2% in EU

The gender employment gap in Bulgaria in 2022 went down by 0.7% from 8.4% in 2021. Among the working-age population 79.5% of men and 71.8% of women were employed in 2022, Eurostat Tuesday cited data on EU citizens aged 20-64. In 2022, EU’s gender employment gap was 10.7%, or 0.2% lower than in 2021.

In 2021, 77.3% of men and 68.9% of women were employed in Bulgaria. 

Among the regions in Bulgaria, the smallest gap was registered in Severen Tsentralen (North Central) - 3.2%, and the largest in Yugoiztochen (Southeastern) - 12.8%. 

There were only two EU regions, that registered a higher employment rate among women in 2022: the Capital Region of Lithuania (Sostinės regionas) and South Finland (Etelä-Suomi) in Finland. In the region of North and East Finland (Pohjois- ja Itä-Suomi) there was no difference in employment rates between men and women. In all the other EU regions, the gender gap persisted with higher rates of employment for men.

In 2019, the EU has set a goal to halve the gender gap by 2030. One in five EU regions has already met the target set at 5.8%. They were concentrated in France (14 regions), Germany (7 regions), Finland (all 5 regions), Sweden and Portugal (both 4 regions), Lithuania (both regions), as well as Latvia and Estonia (1 region countries). 

The highest gender employment gaps were recorded in the region of Central Greece (Sterea Elláda, 31.4%) and the southern Italian region of Puglia (30.7%).