Bulgaria Economy 2001

Economy - overview: Bulgaria, a former communist country struggling to enter the European market economy, suffered a major economic downturn in 1996 and 1997, with triple digit inflation and GDP contraction of 10.6% and 6.9%. The current government - which took office in May 1997 after pre-term parliamentary elections - stabilized the economy and promoted growth by implementing a currency board, practicing sound financial policies, invigorating privatization, and pursuing structural reforms. Additionally, strong assistance from international financial institutions - most notably the IMF which approved a three-year Extended Fund Facility worth approximately $900 million in September 1998 - played a critical role in turning the economy around. After several years of tumult, Bulgaria's economy has stabilized. Its better-than-expected economic performance in 1999 - despite the impact of the Kosovo conflict, the 1998 Russian financial crisis, and structural reforms - and strong growth in 2000 portends solid growth over the next few years; this assumes continued fiscal restraint, additional structural reforms, aid from abroad, and prosperous times in the EU economy.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $48 billion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 5% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $6,200 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 15%
industry: 29%
services: 56% (2000 est.)

Population below poverty line: 35% (2000 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3.4%
highest 10%: 22.5% (1995)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 10.4% (2000 est.)

Labor force: 3.83 million (2000 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 26%, industry 31%, services 43% (1998 est.)

Unemployment rate: 17.7% (2000 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $4.85 billion
expenditures: $4.92 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)

Industries: electricity, gas and water; food, beverages and tobacco; machinery and equipment, base metals, chemical products, coke, refined petroleum, nuclear fuel

Industrial production growth rate: 10.8% (2000 est.)

Electricity - production: 36.217 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 51.52%
hydro: 8.35%
nuclear: 40.12%
other: 0.01% (1999)

Electricity - consumption: 33.182 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports: 2.2 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports: 1.7 billion kWh (1999)

Agriculture - products: vegetables, fruits, tobacco, livestock, wine, wheat, barley, sunflowers, sugar beets

Exports: $4.8 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Exports - commodities: clothing, footwear, iron and steel, machinery and equipment, fuels

Exports - partners: Italy 14%, Turkey 10%, Germany 9%, Greece 8%, Yugoslavia 8%, Belgium 6%, France 5%, US 4% (2000)

Imports: $5.9 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Imports - commodities: fuels, minerals, and raw materials; machinery and equipment; metals and ores; chemicals and plastics; food, textiles

Imports - partners: Russia 24%, Germany 14%, Italy 8%, Greece 5%, France 5%, Romania 4%, Turkey 3%, US 3% (2000)

Debt - external: $10.4 billion (2000 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $1 billion (1999 est.)

Currency: lev (BGL)

Currency code: BGL

Exchange rates: leva per US dollar - 2.0848 (January 2001), 2.1233 (2000), 1.8364 (1999), 1,760.36 (1998), 1,681.88 (1997), 177.89 (1996)
note: on 5 July 1999, the lev was redenominated; the post-5 July 1999 lev is equal to 1,000 of the pre-5 July 1999 lev

Fiscal year: calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Bulgaria on this page is re-published from the 2001 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Bulgaria Economy 2001 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Bulgaria Economy 2001 should be addressed to the CIA.