Analysis of Bulgarian income, consumption, and poverty data suggests an overall rise in well-being over recent years, rather than evidence of growing widespread poverty. According to Adrian Nikolov, a senior economist at the Institute for Market Economics (IME), real household income and overall purchasing power have increased substantially. Over the last decade, Bulgaria’s real-income index, which adjusts consumer income for inflation, has shown steady growth.
While the period included a slowdown due to high inflation in 2022, the data points to accelerated growth projections for 2024 and 2025. This growth suggests that “impoverishment” is not the accurate descriptor for the national trend. Despite past inflation, households can now afford significantly more goods and services than ten years ago.
This increased purchasing power is reflected in shifts in spending habits; expenditures on leisure, culture, and education have risen as a share of budgets, while the proportion spent on food and housing has decreased. However, the analysis cautions that poverty and inequality remain significant issues, concentrating in specific vulnerable groups. While the absolute number of people below the poverty line decreased, the percentage remains high.
The expert notes that key determinants of poverty—such as integration into the labor market, education level, and social inclusion of the Roma community—remain critical factors contributing to income disparities. Consequently, the IME recommends that social policy efforts should shift away from broad interventions. Instead, welfare spending must be recalibrated and targeted specifically toward the highest-risk communities to effectively address persistent inequalities.
Topics: #poverty #purchasing #power
Analysis of Bulgarian income, consumption, and poverty data suggests a general increase in well-being over recent years, according to a think tank report. Instead of evidence of increasing widespread