The team of Sofia Investment Agency published its new report titled ‘Sofia: Economic and Investment Profile’, developed by the Institute for Market Economics for Sofia Investment Agency. The paper contains data and analysis of the leading industries, the target sectors for investments, the importance of infrastructure, local taxes and business conditions, as well as information about Sofia’s performance in comparison to other popular business destinations in the region.

Key report highlights:

• Sofia is thе city with the highest living standard in Bulgaria, producing about 40% of the country’s GDP.
• The biggest change in the structure of Sofia’s economy, following the recession in 2009, was the crisis in construction: its share in the local economy declined from 11% in 2008 to below 5% in 2017. At the same time, the manufacturing industry increased its weight in the local economy, following a series of investments in new manufacturing facilities and already existing ones reaching a share of 10.4% in Sofia’s economy. Stable growth is observed also in the sectors of Administrative and Supporting Activities and Professional Activities and Research (which also include part of the outsourcing industry and the IT sectors). This shows the ability of the local economy to attract and develop precisely such types of businesses.
• Being the main economic centre in Bulgaria, it is no surprise that Sofia attracts about half of the investments in the country: by the end of 2017, the city had attracted EUR 12.2 billion of foreign investments or about EUR €9.200 per capita, which is nearly three times the average for the country.
• The largest recipient of FDI in Sofia is the large sector of Trade, Transport and Tourism that attracted about 34% of all foreign investments by 2017. The second largest recipient of foreign investment are Real Estate Operations, attracting about 20% of all FDI in Sofia.
• Sofia has the highest employment rate of 75% – an absolute record both for the city and the country. The highest share of employment is in trade – nearly 180 000 people or 1/4 of the labour force in the city.

More detailed data, charts, analyzes and trends can be found in the full version of the report  HERE