After it became clear that Bulgaria is the leader in terms of export growth in the entire EU for 2022, which municipalities are the export leaders?

After learning this week that Bulgaria is the leader in terms of export growth in the entire EU for 2022, we dwell in detail on the distribution of exports by municipalities in the country. For this reason, this week on "265 stories about the economy" we present the data on the amount of exports of the non-financial sector, shared Adrian Nikolov from the Institute for Market Economy in his comment in the weekly newsletter of the Institute of Economic and Financial Affairs.

In 2021, non-financial enterprises in Sofia recorded the highest export revenues - BGN 32.4 billion, followed by those in Plovdiv (BGN 5.3 billion) and Varna (BGN 3.7 billion), with over BGN 1 billion exports are already 14 municipalities across the country compared to 10 in the previous year. In 69 municipalities, the export volume is below BGN 10 million.

Municipalities where exports play the most significant role in the local economy are most often those where manufacturing is the leading industry. In 2021, the export per capita was the highest in Devnia - 125 thousand BGN per capita, with almost double growth compared to the previous year[1]. The top five are completed by Bozhurishte (67.9 thousand BGN per person), Maritsa (60.3 thousand BGN per person) and Sevlievo (40 thousand BGN per person). Among the large municipalities, the capital has the highest exports (BGN 33.2 thousand per person), Burgas (BGN 16 thousand per person) and Ruse (BGN 18 thousand per person).