Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Trade unions in Bulgaria expect a jump in gray economy due to Covid-19

Photo: Archive

The gray economy in Bulgaria in 2019 accounted for 21% of the country's GDP, data from the National Statistical Institute reveals. It amounts to 11.5 billion euros. This money is outside the social and health care system. In the conditions of a Covid-19 pandemic, this share is expected to grow, said the leader of the CITUB trade union Plamen Dimitrov on the occasion of the Week of Action in the European Campaign for Declared Labour.

Bulgaria's state budget loses 200m euros a year from undeclared work. Dimitrov noted that it also exists in the light economy. Employees have employment contracts and social security payments, but work extra hours that are not paid by the employer. "Whoever works in the gray sector, cuts his or her own rights," the unions warn, BGNES reports.



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

“If we can import doctors for $500, why not MPs for 500 leva?” — President Radev’s sharp retort to Toshko Yordanov

In a declaration, MPs from the We Continue the Change–Democratic Bulgaria (PP–DB) coalition called for Toshko Yordanov, the chair of the Culture Committee and an MP from There Is Such a People, to resign. This followed his controversial comments about..

published on 7/2/25 5:45 PM

Checks are being carried out for illegal trade in Bulgarian seaside resorts

The Ministry of Tourism has carried out nearly 200 checks in Bulgarian Black Sea resorts over the past month, Minister Miroslav Borshosh reported.  An inspection is currently underway in Sunny Beach. “We want to put a stop to all types of illegal..

published on 7/2/25 3:01 PM

YES Bulgaria students return after spending a year studying at U.S. high schools

Twenty-two Bulgarian students who spent the last school year at high schools across the United States, from Texas to Vermont, have returned home . The exchange was organised by the YES Bulgaria programme. Over the past few months, the teenagers not..

published on 7/2/25 2:51 PM