site.bta70.1% of Bulgarians Had Difficulty Covering Daily Expenses in Q3 of 2023

In the third quarter of 2023, 70.1% of individuals in Bulgaria had difficulty covering their daily expenses, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) found from an additional poll to the Household Budget Survey it conducted in the third quarter of 2023. The NSI polled 5,513 persons aged 16 and over from 3,059 households under a project subsidized by the European Commission.

Compared to previous quarters,  the share of persons who cover their daily expenses with great difficulty (11.6%) and with difficulty (21.9%) decreased, at the expense of an increase in persons who experience certain difficulties (36.6%).

A total of 22.7% of individuals can fairly easy cover their daily expenses, and 7.2% do not experience any difficulties, which was 0.5 percentage points less than in the second quarter of 2023.

The 3.8% of individuals who reported a decrease in income for the last 12 months was 2.0 percentage points less than in the previous quarter.

The share of persons who answered that they could afford an unexpected required expense of BGN 500 (urgent home and car repairs, replacement of consumer durables like washing machine or fridge, illness, etc.) and self-finance it increased from 50.4% in the first quarter to 55.7% in the third quarter of
2023.

In the third quarter of 2023, 44.3% of individuals answered that they could not afford an unexpected expense, which was 4.9 percentage points less than in the second quarter of 2023.

For 64.5% of individuals, household income remained unchanged in the third quarter of 2023 from the previous 12 months. This share decreased by 13.5 percentage points compared to the second quarter of 2023.

An increase in income was indicated by 31.7% of individuals, which was 15.5 percentage points up from the 16.2% in the second quarter of 2023.