site.btaUPDATED GDP Up by 1.9% in Bulgaria, 0.4% in the EU in Q2 2023 Y/Y

In the second quarter of 2023, Bulgaria's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 1.9% and Gross Value Added (GVA) by 2.2% compared to the second quarter of 2022, according to National Statistical Institute preliminary and seasonally adjusted data, published on Thursday.

In the second quarter of 2023, Bulgaria's GDP per person employed increased in real terms by 1.7% compared to the second quarter of 2022. 

The number of persons employed in the economy was 3,561,700 and the total number of hours worked amounts to some 1.427 billion. The employment structure by economic sector in the second quarter of 2023 compared to the second quarter of 2022 shows an increase in the relative share of the service sector and a decrease in the relative share of the industry and the agricultural sectors.

GDP per person employed was BGN 11,880.5 and GDP per hour worked was BGN 29.7. GVA per person employed on average in the second quarter of 2023 increased in real terms by 2.1% year-on-year. GVA per hour worked increased in real terms by 2%. 

GVA per person employed in the industrial sector was BGN 12,906.2 and GVA per hour worked was BGN 31.7. In the service sector, an average of BGN 10,359.9 GVA was produced by person employed, or an average of BGN 25.8 GVA per hour worked. The lowest labor productivity was in the agricultural sector, BGN 2,920.3 GVA per person employed and BGN 7.6 per hour worked.

Eurostat data on GDP, employment

In the second quarter of 2023, seasonally adjusted GDP was stable in the EU and increased by 0.1% in the euro area, compared with the previous quarter, according to an estimate published by Eurostat. In the first quarter of 2023, GDP had increased by 0.2% in the EU and by 0.1% in the euro area.

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP increased by 0.4% in the EU and by 0.5% in the euro area in the second quarter of 2023, after increases of 1.1% in both zones in the previous quarter.

The number of employed persons increased by 0.1% in the EU and by 0.2% in the euro area in the second quarter of 2023, compared with the previous quarter. In the first quarter of 2023, employment had increased  by 0.4% in the EU and by 0.5% in the euro area.

The number of employed persons in Bulgaria decreased by 0.3% in the second quarter of 2023 compared with the first quarter. Compared with a year earlier, employment in Bulgaria increased by 0.1%.