Market analysis: Bulgaria, an attractive country for large companies and SMEs
Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2024 4:49 am
Bulgaria is a member country of the European Union, located in the south-east of the European continent. It borders Romania to the north, Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Greece and Turkey to the south. The country is bathed by the Black Sea. It has a territory of 110,879 km², ranking 15th in Europe by area. The capital and largest city is Sofia, with a permanent population of 1,270,284 inhabitants.
Foreign trade
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Spain and Bulgaria have excellent bilateral relations, particularly in the political sphere, where this magnificent connection is made clear by the successive demonstrations of support for Bulgaria made by Spain, both for its integration into NATO and for its accession to the European Union in 2007.
Spain has subsequently expressed its support for the Bulgarian candidacy mexico email accession to the Schengen area, without linking it to any additional conditionality. This mutual support has been demonstrated by the constant ministerial visits we have had in recent years with representatives of both countries. In particular, the visit of the President of the Government of Spain in May of this year, during the Bulgarian rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union.
One of the pillars of the bilateral relationship between both countries is the presence in Spain of a large Bulgarian community, which has increased interest in our country and our language in Bulgaria, resulting in a significant increase in tourism and flight frequencies between both countries.
Trade relations between Spain and Bulgaria are also very fluid. In 2017, Spain was Bulgaria's sixth largest supplier of goods, with sales of over 1.2 billion euros. Spain was the ninth largest customer of the Bulgarian economy, importing goods worth 650 million euros. Since 2008, the bilateral balance has been favourable to Spain, with coverage that has regularly exceeded 200%.
The composition of both imports and exports has been very stable in recent years. In recent years, the main item of Spanish exports to Bulgaria has been copper ore (62.8% of the total exported to the country in 2017). Also, although far behind, are exports of motor vehicles (5.3%); meat (5.1%), machinery and mechanical devices (4.0%) and plastic manufactures (1.8%).
As regards Spanish imports of Bulgarian products in 2017, the most important were cereals (44.8%, especially wheat), electrical equipment and material (10.2%), oilseeds (4.7%), clothing (5.6%), and machinery and mechanical equipment (4.4%).
In recent years, the Bulgarian government has implemented a series of reforms aimed at opening up trade and attracting new investors, improving legal certainty and removing obstacles to business creation, making it easier and more accessible.
The World Bank estimates Bulgaria's growth at 3.8% in 2018, and the Bulgarian economy is expected to grow by 3.6% in both 2019 and 2020. These figures therefore demonstrate the dynamism of the Bulgarian economy, which has been achieving growth rates of over 3.5% since 2015.
Bulgaria is an attractive country for Spanish companies, which is why the Spanish Chambers of Commerce have carried out a modest, but ongoing, number of information and promotional activities in recent years: three direct trade missions in 2017 and another three in 2018.
The Bulgarian market offers opportunities not only for large companies, but also for SMEs. Infrastructure, both road and rail, energy, agri-food and the ICT sector are some of the areas of activity in which companies have great opportunities to establish themselves in this country. Likewise, the areas of technological innovation, automotive, robotics, logistics, transport, construction and telecommunications are other sectors that present important market niches.
Are you interested in market analyses of other countries? Check out the foreign trade section. If you also want to internationalise, invest in another country or export, find out about the chambers of commerce programmes: Xpande and XpandeDigital .
Foreign trade
Image
shutterstock_296571830.jpg
Spain and Bulgaria have excellent bilateral relations, particularly in the political sphere, where this magnificent connection is made clear by the successive demonstrations of support for Bulgaria made by Spain, both for its integration into NATO and for its accession to the European Union in 2007.
Spain has subsequently expressed its support for the Bulgarian candidacy mexico email accession to the Schengen area, without linking it to any additional conditionality. This mutual support has been demonstrated by the constant ministerial visits we have had in recent years with representatives of both countries. In particular, the visit of the President of the Government of Spain in May of this year, during the Bulgarian rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union.
One of the pillars of the bilateral relationship between both countries is the presence in Spain of a large Bulgarian community, which has increased interest in our country and our language in Bulgaria, resulting in a significant increase in tourism and flight frequencies between both countries.
Trade relations between Spain and Bulgaria are also very fluid. In 2017, Spain was Bulgaria's sixth largest supplier of goods, with sales of over 1.2 billion euros. Spain was the ninth largest customer of the Bulgarian economy, importing goods worth 650 million euros. Since 2008, the bilateral balance has been favourable to Spain, with coverage that has regularly exceeded 200%.
The composition of both imports and exports has been very stable in recent years. In recent years, the main item of Spanish exports to Bulgaria has been copper ore (62.8% of the total exported to the country in 2017). Also, although far behind, are exports of motor vehicles (5.3%); meat (5.1%), machinery and mechanical devices (4.0%) and plastic manufactures (1.8%).
As regards Spanish imports of Bulgarian products in 2017, the most important were cereals (44.8%, especially wheat), electrical equipment and material (10.2%), oilseeds (4.7%), clothing (5.6%), and machinery and mechanical equipment (4.4%).
In recent years, the Bulgarian government has implemented a series of reforms aimed at opening up trade and attracting new investors, improving legal certainty and removing obstacles to business creation, making it easier and more accessible.
The World Bank estimates Bulgaria's growth at 3.8% in 2018, and the Bulgarian economy is expected to grow by 3.6% in both 2019 and 2020. These figures therefore demonstrate the dynamism of the Bulgarian economy, which has been achieving growth rates of over 3.5% since 2015.
Bulgaria is an attractive country for Spanish companies, which is why the Spanish Chambers of Commerce have carried out a modest, but ongoing, number of information and promotional activities in recent years: three direct trade missions in 2017 and another three in 2018.
The Bulgarian market offers opportunities not only for large companies, but also for SMEs. Infrastructure, both road and rail, energy, agri-food and the ICT sector are some of the areas of activity in which companies have great opportunities to establish themselves in this country. Likewise, the areas of technological innovation, automotive, robotics, logistics, transport, construction and telecommunications are other sectors that present important market niches.
Are you interested in market analyses of other countries? Check out the foreign trade section. If you also want to internationalise, invest in another country or export, find out about the chambers of commerce programmes: Xpande and XpandeDigital .