2024-04-06 20:22:04
NSI is starting a new survey of household expenses, which will continue throughout the year
Bulgarians have started to spend more, but their spending pattern remains cautious. This is shown by the latest data of the national statistics on turnover in wholesale trade.
In February, they had a growth of 0.9% compared to January, and on an annual basis the increase was 3.2%. For comparison, in January the monthly rate was only 0.3 percent, and compared to a year ago, no larger sales were reported.
The higher turnover is now mainly due to food sales, the statistics show. In February of this year, compared to the same month of 2023, the growth in food, beverages and tobacco products was 10.3%. In the case of non-food goods, it is much more modest – 3.7 percent and is mainly due to pharmaceutical and medical goods and to some extent to household appliances, furniture and others.
However, households save on clothing, shoes and leather goods,
where there is a decrease in turnover by 10.8%. The largest drop was recorded in the purchase of automotive fuels – 14%, although their prices this year did not differ from the beginning of 2023.
What exactly Bulgarians spend money on should become clear from a study that NSI launched this month. It will include 3,060 households across the country over a 12-month period. They are randomly selected and each will participate for one month per quarter. Individuals must complete diaries of income received and expenses incurred during the month, as well as information about extraordinary income and expenses incurred for the previous two months when they were not directly involved in the study.
For now, it is clear that Bulgarians remain in last place in the EU in terms of purchasing power, according to Eurostat data. Our country has reached 64% of the average living standard of other countries. At the bottom of the ranking with us are Greece, Romania and Latvia, but with much better indicators.
We spend BGN 15.8 billion in chains per year
BGN 15.8 billion is the annual revenue of the large retail chains that are members of the Association of Modern Trade. This shows an analysis of the Institute of Market Economy. However, the data is for 2022 and the amount has probably increased in the last year.
The chains create direct and additional internal demand in the Bulgarian economy for BGN 11.8 billion, the study states.
According to the IPI’s assessment, the total costs of the food chains aimed at Bulgarian food and beverage suppliers reach over BGN 3.5 billion. The activity of Bulgarian manufacturers supplying goods generates an additional effect of over BGN 2.6 billion as increased revenues of related enterprises and industries.
Retail chains are also one of the largest employers in our country. They employ 53,300 people, and the salaries paid for the year are BGN 870 million. The consumption of goods and services by the households of the employed generates an additional effect in the activity of the manufacturers worth over BGN 500 million. In 2022, the gross average monthly salary was BGN 1,822.