site.btaChelopech, Kozloduy, Sofia Have Highest Average Wages in 2023

The highest average gross wages in Bulgaria in 2023 were paid in Chelopech, Kozloduy and Sofia, according to an analysis by the Institute for Market Economics (IME). The analysis, based on data from the National Statistical Institute, was published on Tuesday.

For yet another year, mainly small municipalities where large companies operate, accounting for a significant part of labour income in the region, report the highest average gross monthly wages. This includes municipalities from the Sredna Gora area with a highly developed mining and related processing industry, such as Chelopech (placed first with BGN 3,751), Pirdop (fifth with BGN 2,799), and Panagyurishte (eighth with BGN 2,436), as well as municipalities with a strong power industry, such as Kozloduy (second with BGN 3,421), Radnevo (fourth with BGN 2,803) and Galabovo (sixth with BGN 2,530). Traditionally industrial municipalities such as Devnya (seventh with BGN 2,504) and Bozhurishte (ninth with BGN 2,227) rounded up the top ten.

The exception is Sofia, which in 2023 ranked third with an average gross monthly wage of BGN 2,855. The capital city concentrates 34% of all employees in the country and significantly outperforms other major economic centres in terms of pay levels.

The analysis found an interesting shift compared to the previous year: Knezha Municipality, specializing in grain production and vegetable oil processing, slumped from third to tenth, with a wage decline from BGN 2,813 in 2022 to BGN 2,176 in 2023. The IME sees this as an example of the effects of a one-time boom in the agricultural sector in 2022.

In 2023, wages increased in 258 municipalities and decreased in only 6, these numbers being approximately the same as in the previous few years. In as many as 247 municipalities, the growth in wages for the year exceeded 9.5%, which was  the average annual inflation for 2023. However, there was also a certain element of catching up with the general price growth: in 2022, wages were higher than the average annual inflation rate in only 55 municipalities, the analysis pointed out.

In 2023, a slowdown in economic growth was observed in a large part of the country's territory. This was evidenced by updated data on the added value, sales revenues and investments of non-financial enterprises. A number of enterprises' economic activity indicators grew in the vast majority of municipalities in 2022, 2023 witnesses a decline in far more municipalities.

The  IME attributes the decline in a large part of the municipalities to their location in the northern part of the country, where the role of agriculture is greater and, accordingly, after the sharp price shock in 2022, the effect of the cooling in 2023 is now affecting international markets.

A similar trend was shown by indicators for manufactured output, sales revenues, and export revenues: widespread growth in 2022, followed by a decline in many municipalities in 2023, especially in Northern Bulgaria, the analysis stated.