Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

How much, where and what the Bulgarians spend money for during the Christmas holidays?

Photo: BGNES

Last year the Bulgarians spent over 1 billion EUR for Christmas presents, parties and trips. In 2019 this amount is expected to see 10% increase. In other words, each citizen spends an average of EUR 200 for gifts for relatives and friends. This is due to the fact that in 2019 the salaries in the public and the private sector saw 10% increase on average which means that the disposable income of the Bulgarians went up. A New Year’s Eve spent in some neighboring countries like Turkey, Greece, Serbia and North Macedonia also costs EUR 200 on average. This year, however, long-distance journeys will be less, because only January 1 is declared official holiday. According to research of Gallup International, over 2.4 million Bulgarians (out of all 7 million) are considering the possibility to travel for the forthcoming Christmas holidays and the winter season. Although Bulgaria ranks last in the EU in terms of purchasing parity, the Bulgarians do not want to punish themselves or their relatives with financial restrictions during the holidays. 33% of the respondents of Alpha Research sociological agency say that 2019 has been good for them and only 14% of the surveyed answer that this year has been worse. What does the Bulgarian consumer intend to buy for a gift? Like in previous years, the Bulgarians traditionally buy toys and Christmas decorations, clothing, cosmetics, shoes and electronics. Let us remind that some of these gifts were already bought in November during the Black Friday and on Cyber Mondays when huge price discounts were made and many people preferred to buy Christmas presents in advance.

Once we know what to buy, we have to decide whether we will purchase in the traditional shops and shopping malls or virtually in Internet sites. Many consumers worldwide fight with this dilemma. In Bulgaria this problem does not seem that significant, because according to a survey carried out by Eurostat, only 21% of the Bulgarians buy online, whereas in Western European over 60% of the population is used to making purchases on the Internet. According to shopping experts, people usually make hybrid decisions- they buy both online and in traditional shops. However, the number of people purchasing on the Internet has been constantly increasing over the recent years, because in 2008 only 3% of the population were buying on Internet. Despite the alarming forecasts of some analysts about a forthcoming economic crisis, 55% of the Bulgarians believe that in 2020 this country’s economy will continue to grow, employment will be high and salaries will continue to rise. Many people, however, will resort to their savings or take bank loans for various reasons and here is a good news. According to survey of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 68% of the companies are planning to give Christmas bonuses to their employees ranging between EUR 250 and 500. The Bulgarian pensioners with lowest pensions also received Christmas bonuses from the state budget to the tune of EUR 20 each.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

The five largest Indian IT companies already have offices in Bulgaria

Bulgaria and India will intensify their cooperation in various sectors of mutual interest. This was discussed at a meeting of the Bulgarian Minister of Economy Petko Nikolov with Ambassador of India to Bulgaria H.E. Sanjay Rana. The two focused..

published on 10/31/24 5:48 PM

A Bulgarian-Czech Chamber of Commerce established in Sofia

On October 31, 2024, 10 business leaders in Bulgaria founded the first Bulgarian-Czech Chamber of Commerce in the country. At the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Sofia, in the presence of Martin Dvořák, Minister of European Affairs of the Czech..

published on 10/31/24 1:54 PM

The model of EU subsidies distorts agricultural production in Bulgaria, the director of the Institute of Agrarian Economics says

In the space of 15 years, from 2005 until 2020, 75% of the farms in the country have disappeared – from 500,000 in 2005 down to 132,000 in 2020, said Prof. Dr. Bozhidar Ivanov, Director of the Institute of Agrarian Economics at an international..

published on 10/31/24 9:39 AM