site.btaUPDATED BGN 1,562 Needed for Monthly Subsistence in Bulgaria - Trade Unions

The required net monthly income for the subsistence of one employed person stood at BGN 1,562 (EUR 799) in the fourth quarter of 2025, the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) said on Thursday.

For a three-member household (two adults and one child under the age of 14), the income needed to cover basic living costs is BGN 2,812 (EUR 1,438), according to the data. 

CITUB President Plamen Dimitrov said that the income required for subsistence increased by 1% on a quarterly basis and by 6% year-on-year. 

As of November 2025, a decline is observed in the share of people earning below the living wage, said Violeta Ivanova, Deputy Director of the Institute for Social and Trade Union Research and Training at CITUB. More than half of employed persons are insured on an income lower than the living wage (57.5%), she noted.

A total of 256,000 employees insured at up to the minimum wage (MW) and working full time account for 46% of all persons insured at up to the MW (554,000 people). This group represents 11.8% of all full-time employees, or one of every eight workers.

Food price growth in Bulgaria remains among the highest in the European Union, while the country continues to record the lowest wage levels, CITUB also noted. The trade union is calling for a minimum 10% wage increase in the private sector, which is expected to offset the rise in the living wage over the past year. Such an increase would also help boost workers’ purchasing power, the union said. CITUB also urged the swift adoption of a regular state budget for 2026 that would guarantee a 10% increase in personnel expenditure.

The trade union reiterated its call for a definition and methodology for measuring the living wage, as well as for narrowing the gap between the minimum wage and the living wage. 

The income required for food amounts to BGN 627 (EUR 321) for one employed person.

On a quarterly basis, food prices rose by 1.3%. A significant increase of nearly 20% was recorded in food production, Ivanova said.

The group of non-food goods and services registered a 0.7% increase over the past quarter. Housing rents posted a double-digit year-on-year increase of 12.1%, CITUB data show. Price rises were also recorded in healthcare, education and leisure, as well as in electricity and district heating for household use.