Labour market situation in the country

According to the Main Labour Force Survey Results of the National Institute of Statistics, as at the fourth quarter of 2024, the Bulgarian labour market has experienced the following developments: 

• The unemployment rate was 3.8%.
• The employment rate of the population aged 15 - 64 reached 70.7%.
• The activity rate of the population aged 15 - 64 was 73.6%.
• In the fourth quarter of 2024, there were 116.7 thousand unemployed persons, of whom 70.6 thousand (60.5%) men and 46.0 thousand (39.5%) women. In comparison with the fourth quarter of 2023, the number of unemployed persons decreased by 11.9 thousand (9.3%). For the same period, the unemployment rate went down by 0.4 percentage points and reached 3.8%, 4.4% for men and 3.2% for women, respectively. Among all unemployed persons, 19.7% had attained tertiary education, 47.9% had completed upper secondary education and 32.4% had at most lower secondary education. The unemployment rate by level of educational attainment was as follows: 1.9% for tertiary education, 3.6% for upper secondary education and 15.8% for lower education (lower secondary or less).
• The youth unemployment rate (age group 15 - 29) was 6.5% (7.5% for men and 5.2% for women). Compared to the same quarter of 2023, this rate decreased by 1.4 percentage points, which was entirely due to the decrease for women - by 3.3 percentage points.
• The employment rate for the age group 15 - 29 was 33.9% (37.5% for men and 30.0% for women).

Main concepts

The right to work of every citizen is provided by the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria (article 48). In terms of legislation, employment is governed by the Employment Promotion Act (Закон за насърчаване на заетостта) (last amendment effective from 22.03.2024). 

The youth-related activities on the labour market are implemented in the context of the Reinforced Youth Guarantee.

An effective approach to activate young people who are neither in education, nor in employment are the youth mediators appointed in municipalities with higher number of inactive youth.

Registration at the employment office gives young people access to intermediary services such as information, consultation, employment intermediation, as well as subsidized jobs, inclusion in qualification and requalification courses, etc. 

Some of subsidized jobs are for traineeship, thus giving educated young people to obtain professional experience and improve their employability. The subsidies also ensure apprenticeship with a mentor, which is appropriate for young people without education and qualification. In the case of dual training, the theoretical preparation is validated in real working environment.

Young people are also provided with intermediary services that are not directly related with their labour realisation but are crucial for acquiring specific skills (job search, job interviews, document preparation, demonstration of confidence), which they master while participating in Job Search Ateliers.

Specialised job fairs are a successful tool to attract young people to the labour market. They give opportunity for face-to-face meeting between unemployed/ inactive young people and employers.

Mobile employment office is а relatively new service provided by the Employment Agency (Агенция по заетостта) at places where no permanent employment office operates. Mobile employment offices make the employment services closer to inactive persons, including young people.

Social partners are the representative organisations of the employers and of the workers and employees on national level and other non-profit legal entities participating in the social partnership in connection and with reference to the fulfilment of the law.

Preferences for employers are the sums granted to employers concluding contracts under programmes and measures for employment promotion and employment security and/or for training of employed persons.

Social security refers to a comprehensive system of mandatory contributions and benefits designed to provide financial support and social protection to individuals in various circumstances, such as retirement, disability, or unemployment. This system encompasses a range of insurance programs, including pensions, health care, and other social assistance measures. Both employers and employees are required to make financial contributions to the social security system.