National Statistical Institute

Bulgarian exports to the EU increased by 4.8% between January and August 2016 compared to the same period of last year, national statistics show.

Exports amounted to BGN 20.1782 B in the first eight months of the year, according to preliminary data from the National Statistical Institute (NSI).

In the third quarter of 2016, construction licenses for administrative buildings increased by 37.8%, compared to the previous quarter, while their area  marked a 315% growth.

Compared to a year ago, licenses increased by 27.5%, while the area of administrative buildings increased by 81.6%.

Bulgaria's debt amounted to BGN 23.048 B or 26% of GDP in 2015, announced the National Statistical Institute.

According to final data of NSI, in 2015, institutional sector State Government reported a budget deficit of BGN 1.490 B or 1.7% of GDP.

Subsector Central Government had a deficit of BGN 619 M or 0.7% of GDP.

More than half of Bulgarians between 15 and 29 years of age live in inferior living conditions, showed an analysis of Eurostat, cited by BTA.

More than forty percent of children in Bulgaria are facing a risk of poverty or social exclusion, according to national statistics published ahead of the world anti-poverty day.

Both exports and imports of Bulgaria to third countries fell in the first eight months of this year, compared to the same period of 2015, statistics show.

Exports amounted to BGN 9.5161 B. The main trade partners included Turkey, Macedonia, Serbia, China, Russia, and the United States, accounting for 49.7% of the exports to non-EU countries.

Bulgarian exports to the EU grew by 4.3% in the first seven months of this year, compared to the same period of 2015, while imports from other member states dipped slightly, statistics show.

Exports amounted to BGN 17.4966 B. The main trade partners included Germany, Italy, Romania, Greece and France, accounting for 64.7% of the exports to EU member states.

Until January 1, 2015, people at the age of over 80 in Bulgaria were over 331,000 or 4.6% of the entire population, reported Eurostat in an analysis on elderly people in the EU-28 in the period 2005-2015.

This means that almost every 20th person in Bulgaria is over the age of 80.

Two in every three Bulgarians die from cardiovascular diseases, national statistics show.

The data, published on the occasion of the World Heart Day, reveals that more than 70 000, out of 100 000 death cases on an annual basis, were caused by myocardial infarction, coronary artery disease, brain stroke, or heart failure.

One-third of Roma people in Bulgaria do not consider themselves poor, while 67.2% reckon so, showed data of the National Statistical Institute from the 2015 annual survey.

The survey is carried out every year, but, for the first time this year, it included a question on ethnic identity.