Bulgarian exports fell by almost 7% in 2023

Bulgarian exports for the whole of 2023 are about 6.4 billion BGN lower than in the previous record year in Bulgaria's economic history. The total value of exports reached BGN 87 billion, down by about 6.8 per cent compared to the previous year. This is according to the National Statistical Institute's (NSI) express data on foreign trade for the whole of last year.

The results are well below record levels for a number of reasons — both deflation in certain export commodities and a reduced volume of orders due to the slowdown in the economies of a number of Bulgaria's trading partners. These include Germany, whose imports contracted much more than expected in December. Germany is Bulgaria's largest trading partner.

As for the prices of goods, according to the NSI data, in each quarter of last year they fell on a year-on-year basis by around 2% in the first quarter, 5% in the second quarter and almost 10% in the third quarter.

Much of the fall in exports is due to energy — the oil and its products that Bulgaria exports — which fell by about 13%. Prices of animal fats and oils, such as oil, also fell by more than 30%.

According to the latest data from the National Statistical Institute, two-thirds of the value of exports goes to the European Union — about BGN 55 billion. The remaining BGN 32 billion are exported to third countries.

The detailed data on exports to the various member states of the bloc are a month late, but they give the general picture, namely that exports to almost all of Bulgaria's main partners have declined. The exceptions are, for example, Belgium and the Czech Republic.

Bulgarian exports were negative in almost all twelve months of the year.

The NSI report shows that in December alone, total exports amounted to BGN 6.5 billion. This is about half a billion BGN less than in the previous month and almost 2 billion BGN less than the summer records of last year. The share of exports to the bloc countries was around 60%, with the rest going to third countries.

Because of the lower base from December 20-22, when there was already a slowdown in exports, they are now down by only 3.5%.

The statistics show that the decline is only due to the European Union countries. Exports to them are down by 7.8%, while exports to third countries are up by 3.7%.

This article was translated with the support of DeepL.