site.btaBulgaria Among EU Leaders in Low Unemployment, But Wages Still Lag Behind, Labour Minister Gutsanov Says

Bulgaria ranks among the European Union’s top performers in terms of low unemployment, but wages in the country remain well below the EU average, Labour and Social Policy Minister Borislav Gutsanov said on Tuesday. He made the remarks during the opening of the National Working Meeting of the Employment Agency. During the event, Gutsanov outlined key priorities for the development of Bulgaria’s labour market and economy.

“Unemployment in Bulgaria stood at 5.1% in the first half of the year. We are among the leading EU countries in terms of low unemployment. However, wages continue to be a serious issue, placing us near the bottom of the European rankings,” Gutsanov said. He confirmed that, under the current formula for calculating the minimum wage as outlined in the Labour Code, the minimum monthly wage is expected to reach around BGN 1,200 by 2026.

The minister also announced plans to increase financial support for young families and parental benefits starting in 2026, conditional on the availability of funding through improvements in the labour market.

Gutsanov stressed that tackling the demographic crisis is one of Bulgaria’s most urgent challenges, with 24% of the population currently over the age of 65 and the average age at 45.3 years.

As one solution, he proposed focusing efforts on engaging the Bulgarian diaspora abroad through the I Choose Bulgaria initiative. According to him, this could help address chronic labour shortages while improving the country’s demographic outlook.

Regarding the hiring of foreign workers, Gutsanov shared that approximately 50,000 workers from third countries are expected to arrive in Bulgaria in 2025 to offset workforce shortages.

The minister also highlighted the establishment of a special interagency group – which includes Deputy Prime Minister Grozdan Karadjov, Interior Minister Daniel Mitov, Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev, and representatives from the State Agency for National Security – tasked with streamlining the process of bringing back Bulgarian nationals from abroad.

“The delays we’ve seen are largely due to insufficient consular services and employment desks,” Gutsanov noted. “Measures have already been taken – new offices are being opened abroad to speed up application and document processing. Here in Bulgaria, the Employment Agency is essentially working around the clock to prevent delays. Despite a threefold increase in the number of people returning, we’re processing applications significantly faster than last year,” he further explained.

Gutsanov also stressed that some 200,000 people in Bulgaria are neither employed nor enrolled in education or training. “This is not acceptable – we’re bringing in 50,000 foreign workers while 200,000 people here are doing nothing,” Gutsanov said.

In response, the government has launched a special registry to track economically inactive individuals. The goal is to determine whether these people can be re-engaged in the workforce or whether they are part of the informal economy. Gutsanov emphasized that inter-institutional cooperation is crucial to reaching each of these individuals and integrating them into the formal economy.