BGN 1,454 per month is needed to support the life of a working person who lives alone, and the amount for a three-member family/ two working adults and a child under 14/ is BGN 2,616. This is shown by the latest data of the Institute for Social and Trade Union Research at the National Security Council for the first quarter of 2024, cited by BNR. Over 65 percent of the working people in the country are provided with an income below the subsistence level, with every third of the employed receiving remuneration of up to BGN 1,000.
In one year, compared to the same period in 2023, the means needed to support life for a single person have increased by 60 BGN or by 107 BGN for a family, announced the president of KNSB Plamen Dimitrov:
"There is a small increase on a quarterly basis - just over one percent, and on an annual basis it is 4.3".
The union's figures also show that the small consumer basket of 20 essential goods has risen by nearly 4 percent year-on-year, giving the impression that inflation has not been overcome.
The minimum wage in Bulgaria is the lowest in the European Union. It is 18 percent of its highest value, which is in Luxembourg - over BGN 5,000.
A Bulgarian employed at the lowest wage has to work for more than four months to reach it. KNSB insists on the introduction of a tax-free minimum and a nominal increase in income in 2024 of at least 12-15 percent, in order to achieve real growth of 6-7 percent.