Situated in southeast Europe, Bulgaria is a popular destination for outsourcing companies. If you’re looking to outsource to Bulgaria, you might be interested in the average salary in Bulgaria.
The average salary in Bulgaria is 39,600 BGN (Bulgarian Lev) per annum. It equates to approximately USD 22,208, according to the exchange rate in April 2023.
Since the average salary in Bulgaria is lower than major economies like the United States (94,700 USD) and the United Kingdom (93,691 USD), several businesses prefer to outsource to Bulgaria.
In this article, we’ll explore the various aspects of the average salary in Bulgaria, like the median salary, maximum and minimum salary range, and average salary increments. We’ll also check out the top three advantages of outsourcing to Bulgaria.
Table of Contents
- What is the average salary in Bulgaria?
- Salary comparison in Bulgaria
- 3 advantages of outsourcing to Bulgaria
Let’s get started.
What is the average salary in Bulgaria?
According to Salary Explorer, the average salary in Bulgaria is 3,300 BGN per month. As per the exchange rate in April 2023, it equates to around USD 1,851.
The average gross monthly salary generally includes accommodation costs, transportation costs, and other employee benefits mentioned in their employment contract.
Additionally, the average salary in Bulgaria varies highly across different sectors (public and private sector), types of employment (part-time or full-time employees), industries, and job title. For instance, the most paid jobs are in management (73,882 BGN), followed by the public sector (73,364 BGN).
Now, let’s explore the different aspects of employee salaries in Bulgaria.
1. Median salary
Median salary refers to the middle value if you arrange salaries of Bulgarian employees in ascending order.
The median salary of an employee in Bulgaria is 2,960 BGN (USD 1,660) per month. It means that half of the employees earn above 2,960 BGN, and the other half earns less.
2. Maximum and minimum salary range
In Bulgaria, the average salary ranges from 840 BGN (USD 471) to 14,700 BGN (USD 8,244) per month.
The upper and lower salaries range is the averages of the highest and lowest salaries. The actual maximum or minimum salary in Bulgaria may differ from these figures.
3. Average salary increment
In Bulgaria, increment rates vary across different domains and industries. For example, professionals in the Information Technology and construction industry typically get the highest pay increase of 9%. In comparison, employees from the energy sector get an average increment of 3%.
Here’s an annual increment data based on industry types in Bulgaria (2022).
| Industry | Annual Increment (in percentage) |
| Information Technology | 9% |
| Construction | 9% |
| Banking | 6% |
| Healthcare | 6% |
| Education | 6% |
| Energy | 3% |
| Travel | 3% |
Source: salaryexplorer.com
4. Minimum wage in Bulgaria
Bulgaria has a government-mandated minimum wage, and no worker can be paid less than the mandatory minimum rate of pay.
As of April 2023, the minimum wage in Bulgaria is 780 BGN (USD 437) per month for full time employees (according to WageIndicator.org).
Salary comparison in Bulgaria
In this section, we’ll compare the salaries of Bulgarian employees by education, experience, profession, and city.
1. By education
- In Bulgaria, an employee with a Bachelor’s degree earns 17% more than diploma degree holders.
- An employee with a Master’s degree earns 24% more than those with a Bachelor’s degree.
- Finally, Ph.D. holders earn 23% more income than an employee with a Master’s degree, doing the same work. In general, Ph.D. holders draw the highest salaries.
2. By experience
Like most other countries, employees with more experience get a high salary package in Bulgaria.
Here’s a comparison table to show how a person’s salary increases with experience.
| Experience Level (in years) | Salary Increase (in percentage) |
| Less than 2 | Starting wage |
| 2 to 5 | 32% |
| 5 to 10 | 36% |
| 10 to 15 | 21% |
| 15 to 20 | 14% |
| More than 20 | 9% |
Source: salaryexplorer.com
3. By profession
In Bulgaria, employee salaries vary according to the job role and seniority level.
Here’s the salary comparison table by profession:
| Profession | Average Monthly Salary |
| Financial Manager | 6,470 BGN |
| Pilot | 5,690 BGN |
| Aerospace Engineer | 4,230 BGN |
| Art Director | 3,420 BGN |
| Accountant | 2,260 BGN |
| Graphic Designer | 2,170 BGN |
| Receptionist | 1,610 BGN |
Source: www.salaryexplorer.com
4. By city
Employees in the Bulgarian capital city of Sofia earn the highest average gross salary of around 52,443 BGN annually.
Here’s the salary comparison by city.
| City | Average Salary (per year) |
| Sofia | 52,443 BGN (USD 29,410) |
| Varna | 45,483 BGN (USD 25,507) |
| Burgas | 48,201 BGN (USD 27,031) |
| Plovdiv | 33,704 BGN (USD 18,901) |
Source: https://www.averagesalarysurvey.com/bulgaria
Next, we’ll explore the advantages of outsourcing to Bulgaria.
3 advantages of outsourcing to Bulgaria
Bulgaria’s strategic location in Eastern Europe serves as a link between EU countries and Asia. In addition to this, it offers many outsourcing advantages.
Here, we’ll describe some of these benefits in detail.
1. Massive cost savings
Bulgaria has a lower average salary (3,300 BGN) when compared to other EU countries like Finland (4,690 EUR), Luxembourg (4,910 EUR), and Austria (3,790 EUR). This makes Bulgaria a preferred destination for outsourcing companies.
According to a salary survey conducted by European Union (EU) statistics agency Eurostat, Bulgaria has one of the lowest average salary and hourly rates among European Union countries. The average hourly wage in Bulgaria is 6.5 Euro, much less than 45.8 Euro in Denmark.
Additionally, the government of Bulgaria offers incentives on taxes for local and foreign agencies to promote investments. As a result, Bulgaria has one of the lowest corporate income tax rates of 10% among all European countries.
Further, due to Bulgaria’s lower rental rates and property taxes (0.15%), along with its lower cost of living, their local employees can invest more money into their personal well-being.
All the above-mentioned factors result in massive cost savings for foreign businesses.
2. Access to skilled human resources
Bulgaria is known for its high educational standards. The country has three universities in the overall Times Higher Education World University Rankings. They are – Sofia University, Technical University of Sofia, and Varna University of Management.
As per the Statista report published in July 2021, around 80% of Bulgaria’s working-age population has a secondary or higher education certificate.
Students from neighboring countries like Romania, North Macedonia, Greece, etc., prefer studying in Bulgarian universities due to the low cost of living and tuition fees.
Sofia University also offers a Master’s program in ‘Outsourcing Projects and Companies’ for developing skills required by the BPO industry.
Additionally, more than 71% of the software development companies in Bulgaria use English as their primary language, 16% of companies use German, and 10% use French. This makes it easier for Western European and other global companies to easily communicate with their teams in Bulgaria.
This is a major reason why foreign companies choose to outsource their development work to Bulgaria.
3. Booming economy
In recent years, the outsourcing sector in Bulgaria has been growing rapidly. The European country offers services like Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO).
A report by the Bulgarian Outsourcing Association (now known as AIBEST) mentions that the Bulgarian outsourcing industry accounts for 6.6% of the country’s GDP.
This booming growth, along with low effective income tax rates, has attracted many foreign investors and businesses to the country, further boosting Bulgaria’s GDP.
Additionally, Bulgaria is showing an upward trend on the economic front. Despite the COVID pandemic, the Bulgarian economy showed an annual growth rate of 4.7% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2021, higher than initial estimates of 4.5%.
Learn more about the benefits of outsourcing to Bulgaria to meet your outsourcing needs.
Wrap up
The lower average salary in Bulgaria, when compared to other European countries, makes it a suitable option to fulfill all your outsourcing needs.
Additionally, the country has a large pool of skilled professionals and a fast-growing economy. All these factors can help you run your business operations efficiently and profitably from Bulgaria.
You can use the information we have provided here to understand the average salaries in Bulgaria and if outsourcing to the country is the best move for your business.
