09.08.2011

The economic sectors relating to outsourcing, electronics, and IT possess the greatest potential for further grow. This is one of the conclusion of a short analysis lead by the Economic Analysis and Forecasting Directorate of the Ministry of Finance. The report reviews the performance of the real sectors within the Bulgarian economy, during the 2008 - 2010 period, outlining those with the greatest potential to further expansion. Moreover, the analysis summarizes the profit margins, returns on capital and capital growth of the different sectors, identifying the sectors with the highest profit margins and the highest labor productivity, as compared to their EU-27 counterparts.

The analysis highlights the need for improving overall production efficiency in the country. It furthermore finds, that during the economic boom both investment flows and the resulting job creation were not targeted at the most productive sectors of the Bulgarian real economy. According to it, of all real sectors services suffered the least in the aftermath of the 2008 global economic crisis.

The first part of the analysis follows the financial crisis (2008-2010) impact on the different industries, based on production and revenue indexes. The second part reviews industry-affiliation-based firm-level profitability, productivity, and turnover growth. The third part of the analysis focuses on the sectors with the highest investments in terms of financial assets, testing the hypothesis that the industries with highest investments are the ones with the highest profit margin. The fourth part of the analysis concentrates on the level of competitiveness of the Bulgarian exports. The conclusion summarizes the growth potential of different sectors within the Bulgarian real economy.