Why should we care about border regions? Because they represent a unique example of how people live – a cross section of their differences and similarities.
Border regions can give us a better understanding of countries’ social and economic developments.They can tell the stories of a musher in Finnish Lapland, speaking fluently Russian, or a grape grower in Southeast Bulgaria, close to the Turkish border. Living close to a national border affects the way people interact with each other...
The unemployment rate in Bulgaria in June 2012 was 10.8%, down 0.2% compared to May 2102, according to data of the Employment Agency.
354 825 unemployed people have been registered. This is 5 289 fewer than during the previous month.
21 577 found jobs in June 2012, which is 2 138 more compared to June 2011.
5 480 found work in June 2012 under the program for development of human resources.
Also in June, 12 783 job openings have been listed with the Labor Bureaus across the country...
Bulgaria's exports increased by 0.9% in the first five months of 2012 year on year, while the country's imports grew by 12.1% in the same period.
In the first five months of 2012 the value of all exported goods from Bulgaria amounted to BGN 15.9 B, according to the country's National Statistical Institute.
In May 2012, Bulgaria's total exports added up to BGN 3.6 B and grew by 10.7% compared to the corresponding month of 2011.
The total value of all the goods imported in the country in...
According to flash estimates, the seasonally adjusted industrial production index in Bulgaria increased by 0.9% in May 2012, compared to April 2012.
The preliminary data was released Tuesday by the Bulgarian National Statistics Institute, NSI.
In May 2012, the working day adjusted industrial production index also rose by 0.9%, compared to the same month of 2011.
In May 2012, as compared to April 2012, the seasonally adjusted Industrial Production Index in the mining and quarrying...
In June 2012, the industrial confidence indicator in Bulgaria decreases by 1.1 percentage points in comparison with May.
The report on key indicators of Bulgarian economy was published Monday by the National Statistics Institute, NSI.
In April 2012, the work day adjusted Industrial Production Index rose by 0.3% as compared to the respective month of 2011 (by operative flash data estimates). An increase was recorded in 'Manufacturing' - by 4.2%, while decreases were registered in the...
In the first quarter of 2012, the total hourly labor cost in Bulgaria rose by 6.2% compared to the first quarter of 2011.
These flash figures were released Monday by the Bulgarian National Statistics Institute, NSI.
The total hourly labor cost grew by 4.2% in the industrial sector, by 9.5% in the services one, and by 0.4% in construction.
The breakdown by economic activities shows that the highest annual growths in total labor costs were recorded in 'Other Service Activities' - 17.1%,...
Bulgaria's unemployment rate dropped to 11% in May 2012 from 11.4% the previous month, according to the country's Employment Agency.
Bulgaria's employment offices listed a total of 360 114 unemployed persons in April 2012, 13 410 fewer than a month earlier.
A total of 24 352 people found jobs over the month, a 4 213 increase year on year.
In May, more jobs became available in manufacturing, tourism and employment and programmes funded by the European Union and state budget took...
Bulgaria's exports to non-EU countries decreased by 2.0% year on year in the period January-April 2012, according to preliminary data released by the country's National Statistical Institute.
Bulgaria's total exports to non-EU countries in the period amounted to BGN 4.9 B.
Turkey, China, Russia, Serbia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and United Arab Emirates formed 50.6% of Bulgaria's exports to non EU countries between January and April 2012.
The exports to United Arab...
Bulgaria's exports to other EU countries decreased by 4.6% year on year in the first quarter of 2012, amounting to BGN 5,4 B (approximately EUR 2,8 B), according to preliminary data.
The country's main trade partners in that period were Germany, Italy, Romania, Greece and France, forming 66.7% of its total exports to the EU member states, Bulgaria's National Statistical Institute says.
The most significant growths were observed in Bulgaria's exports to Cyprus and Portugal, while the most...
The consumer price index (CPI) in Bulgaria in May 2012, compared to April 2012, was 99.9%, i.e. the monthly inflation was -0.1%.
The data was reported Tuesday by the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute (NSI).
The inflation rate since the beginning of the year (May 2012 compared to December 2011) has been 1.6% and the annual inflation in May 2012 compared to May 2011 was 1.7%.
The annual average inflation, measured by CPI, in the last 12 months (June 2011 – May 2012) compared to...
Bulgaria's Gross Domestic Product, GDP, was BGN 15.7 M or EUR 8.8 M in the first quarter of 2012 at current prices.
The GDP growth rate in the first quarter of 2012 was 0.5% compared with the same quarter of the previous year and remains at the same level compared with the fourth quarter of 2011.
The official quarterly estimates of GDP for the first quarter of 2012 were released Tuesday by the Bulgarian National Statistics Institute, NSI.
According to the preliminary data, the GDP at...
Driven by strong exports, as well as the good performance of the industry and services sectors, the Bulgarian economy has started to expand, but too weakly and unsteadily, a local think-tank has said.
Bulgaria's gross domestic product will grow by up to 2.5-3% in 2011, the experts from the Center for Economic Development stated in their quarterly report.
The economy expanded by 2% in the second quarter on an annual basis, down by 1.4% in comparison with the previous quarter, which marked...
Bulgaria has completed the first half of 2011 with a budget deficit of 0.9% its GDP, according to latest data from the Finance Ministry.
Thus, in January-June 2011, Bulgaria's deficit on cash basis under the government's Consolidated Fiscal Program amounted to BGN 652.1 M down from BGN 1.514 B in January-June 2010, a decrease by BGN 862.5 M (or 1.3 percentage points) year-on-year.
It is formed by a deficit under the national budget of BGN 455.9 M and a deficit under EU funds of BGN 196.2...
The Bulgarian economy expanded by 3,4% in the first quarter of the year on an annual basis, revised data of the statistics office showed on Wednesday, well above the flash data published a month ago.
On quarterly basis, the emerging economy expanded 0.6% from January through March.
According to flash data of the statistics office from the middle of May the Bulgarian economy expanded by 2.5% in the first quarter on an annual basis.
The country's gross domestic product grew by 0.4%...
In May 2011, Bulgaria registered its lowest monthly unemployment rate since November 2009, according to official data from the State Employment Agency.
Thus, formal figures indicated that in May 2011, Bulgaria's unemployment rate was 8.87%, which is 0.42 pp lower than in April, and the first time since October 2010 when the unemployment is below 9%. The previous lower monthly unemployment figure was recorded back in November 2009 when it was 8.66%.
A total of 328 533 persons were...
Bulgaria's gross external debt was EUR 36 B in March 2011, a decrease of EUR 1.169 B year-on-year, according to latest data of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB).
As of end-March 2011 gross external debt was EUR 36.099 B (94.5% of GDP), which is EUR 580.4 M less compared with the end of 2010 (EUR 36.7 B, 101.8% of GDP).
As of end-March 2011 Bulgaria's long-term liabilities amounted to EUR 25.342 M (70.2% of total debt), and short-term liabilities came to EUR 10.76 B (29.8% of total...
The consumer price index (CPI) in Bulgaria in April, 2011, compared to March 2011 was 100.2%, i.e. the monthly inflation was 0.2%.
The data was released Thursday by the National Statistics Institute, NSI.
The group 'food and non-alcoholic beverages' had the largest upward impact on the total CPI that measures the change in prices of the goods and services, used by Bulgarian households for private (non-production) consumption.
The inflation rate since the beginning of the year (April...
In April 2011, the unemployment rate stood at 9.3%, extending a downward trend from previous months, announced Labor and Social Policy Minister Totyu Mladenov.
According to Mladenov, as quoted by BNR, the trend should continue in the summer months due to seasonal work, subsidiary employment and the measures financed by the European Social Fund.
Minister Mladenov presented the statistics to representatives of German business in Bulgaria.
Mladenov reiterated the ambitious yet attainable...
Bulgaria and Romania, where the crisis hit later than elsewhere, are set to see the biggest improvements in growth in 2011 and 2012 among European Union newcomers, according to a World Bank report.
Two and a half years after the global financial crisis broke, the economic activity in the EU10 rebounded in parallel with the EU15, according to the World Bank's new EU10 Regular Economic Report.
Growth strengthened in the second half of 2010, supported by restocking, a double-digit expansion...
Bulgaria can achieve economic growth of 2.6% in 2011, according to the forecast of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
The Bank's chief expert, Erik Berglof, however, warns the country is facing significant challenges while the biggest source of alarm is the possibility for the lessons from the crisis to not transfer into reforms.
"Prices are going up and the negative effects of the crisis are fading away too slowly," Berglof says.
The expert points out exports...
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