Commercial and Economic Section of the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in Brussels, Belgium, with accreditation for Luxembourg
Bozhidar Patinov
Minister PlenipotentiaryContacts in the Ministry of Economy and Industry
Vessela Bayraktarova Head of Europe Department Foreign Economic Cooperation Directorate Ministry of Economy tel.: +359 2 9407886 v.bairaktarova@mi.government.bg Ketya Manoilova State expert, Europe department Foreign economic cooperation directorate Ministry of Economy tel.: + 359 2 940 7823 k.manoilova@mi.government.bg
Еconomic relations between Bulgaria and Belgium
1. Trade turnover (mln. euro)
Year |
Total turnover |
Growth, % |
Export |
Growth, % |
Import |
Growth, % |
Balance |
2011 |
1396.8 |
46.78 |
999.3 |
70.15 |
397.5 |
12.15 |
601.8 |
2012 |
1210.9 |
-13.3 |
765.9 |
-23.4 |
445.8 |
12.0 |
319.3 |
2013 |
1121.7 |
-26.9 |
642.7 |
-16.1 |
479 |
-37.7 |
163.7 |
2014 |
1441.5 |
28.5 |
903.4 |
40.6 |
538.1 |
12.3 |
365.3 |
2015 |
1460.9 |
1.3 |
853.7 |
-5.5 |
607.2 |
12.8 |
246.5 |
2016 |
1 254.1 |
-14.2 |
646.5 |
-24.3 |
607.6 |
0.1 |
38.9 |
2017 |
1 760.5 |
39.9 |
1 122.4 |
73.6 |
638.2 |
5.0 |
484.2 |
2018 |
1 620.2 |
-8.0 |
982.3 |
-12.5 |
637.95 |
0 |
344.3 |
2019 |
1493.2 |
-7.9 |
850.9 |
-13.4 |
642.3 |
0.6 |
208.7 |
2020 |
1548.4 |
3.7 |
963.7 |
13.3 |
584.6 |
-9.0 |
379.1 |
2021 |
1128.9 |
16.0 |
1128.9 |
16.0 |
757.3 |
29.5 |
371.6 |
Source: Ministry of Economy and Industry
2. Belgian Investments in Bulgaria
In 2021, Belgian investments in Bulgaria amounted to EUR 181.7 million.
By the end of 2021, Belgium's foreign direct investment in Bulgaria amounts to EUR 1851.0 million euros
Source: Bulgarian National Bank
3. Tourism – Belgium tourists in Bulgaria
Year |
Belgium tourists in Bulgaria |
2011 |
69 913 |
2012 |
66 345 |
2013 |
67 777 |
2014 |
88 571 |
2015 |
75 367 |
2016 |
89 542 |
2017 |
122 387 |
2018 |
117 535 |
2019 |
122 616 |
2020 |
12 800 |
2021 |
48 030 |
Source: Ministry of Tourism
The number of tourists from Belgium in the period January - December 2021 amounted to 48,030. A growth of 149.1% was registered for the period, compared to the same period in 2020.
In 2021, Bulgarian citizens made a total of 5,182,042 trips abroad, but the study by destinations for the period has been discontinued.