| 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.
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| GDP: |
purchasing power parity - $48 billion (2000 est.)
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| GDP - real growth rate: |
5% (2000 est.)
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| GDP - per capita: |
purchasing power parity - $6,200 (2000 est.)
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| GDP - composition by sector: |
agriculture:
15%
industry:
29%
services:
56% (2000 est.)
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| Population below poverty line: |
35% (2000 est.)
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| Household income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest 10%:
3.4%
highest 10%:
22.5% (1995)
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| Inflation rate (consumer prices): |
10.4% (2000 est.)
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| Labor force: |
3.83 million (2000 est.)
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| Labor force - by occupation: |
agriculture 26%, industry 31%, services 43% (1998 est.)
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| Unemployment rate: |
17.7% (2000 est.)
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| Budget: |
revenues:
$4.85 billion
expenditures:
$4.92 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)
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| Industries: |
electricity, gas and water; food, beverages and tobacco; machinery and equipment, base metals, chemical products, coke, refined petroleum, nuclear fuel
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| Industrial production growth rate: |
10.8% (2000 est.)
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| Electricity - production: |
36.217 billion kWh (1999)
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| Electricity - production by source: |
fossil fuel:
51.52%
hydro:
8.35%
nuclear:
40.12%
other:
0.01% (1999)
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| Electricity - consumption: |
33.182 billion kWh (1999)
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| Electricity - exports: |
2.2 billion kWh (1999)
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| Electricity - imports: |
1.7 billion kWh (1999)
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| Agriculture - products: |
vegetables, fruits, tobacco, livestock, wine, wheat, barley, sunflowers, sugar beets
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| Exports: |
$4.8 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
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| Exports - commodities: |
clothing, footwear, iron and steel, machinery and equipment, fuels
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| Exports - partners: |
Italy 14%, Turkey 10%, Germany 9%, Greece 8%, Yugoslavia 8%, Belgium 6%, France 5%, US 4% (2000)
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| Imports: |
$5.9 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
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| Imports - commodities: |
fuels, minerals, and raw materials; machinery and equipment; metals and ores; chemicals and plastics; food, textiles
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| Imports - partners: |
Russia 24%, Germany 14%, Italy 8%, Greece 5%, France 5%, Romania 4%, Turkey 3%, US 3% (2000)
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| Debt - external: |
$10.4 billion (2000 est.)
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| Economic aid - recipient: |
$1 billion (1999 est.)
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| 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
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| Fiscal year: |
calendar year
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