The average gross monthly salary in Bulgaria for the first quarter of 2026 reached 1,407 euros, and in Sofia it crossed the psychological threshold of 2,000 euros for the first time.
This was reported by the National Statistical Institute (NSI) based on preliminary data. Statistics report a clear upward trend at the beginning of the year, with the average salary in January being 1,381 euros, in February it slightly dropped to 1,365 euros, and in March it marked a serious jump, reaching 1,475 euros.
Compared to the last quarter of 2025, the increase in the average monthly salary was 2.8%. However, in annual terms (compared to the first quarter of last year), the growth is impressive - 12.7%.
The NSI data show another interesting trend - the gap between the growth of salaries in the public and private sectors continues to widen. In the first three months of 2026, salaries in the public sector increased by 15.3% on an annual basis, while in the private sector the increase was 11.8%.
Traditionally, the sector "Creation and dissemination of information and creative products; telecommunications" (IT and telecommunications) retains its leading position with the highest average monthly salary - 3,176 euros.
In second place are employees in "Financial and insurance activities" with 2,226 euros, followed by those employed in "Production and distribution of electricity, heat and gaseous fuels", who receive an average of 2,060 euros.
It is striking that the financial sector recorded the most serious quarterly jump in wages – by 9.7%, even ahead of agriculture (+8.4%) and the IT sector (+8.2%).
At the opposite pole remain those working in "Hotel and restaurant", who continue to be the lowest paid employees in our country with an average salary of 870 euros. Those employed in "Agriculture, forestry and fishing", who sign up for an average of 981 euros per month, also remain below the psychological limit of 1,000 euros. The group of "Other activities" adds to the bottom of the ranking with 1,014 euros.
The number of employed persons by employment and service relationship at the end of March 2026 reached 2.35 million people, according to the NSI. This is an increase of nearly 10 thousand people (or 0.4%) compared to the end of last year.
The most intensive hiring of new staff in the first quarter was observed in the areas of professional activities and scientific research (+2.7%), hospitality (+2.3%) and construction (+2.0%). At the same time, the financial sector, although leading in terms of wage growth, has reduced the most staff – by 1.4% compared to the end of 2025.
On an annual basis (compared to March 2025), statistics report a slight overall decrease in employed persons by 400 people. The biggest hit was in manufacturing, where employment fell by 14.6 thousand. Human health and social work was the sector that attracted the most new workers - 12.6 thousand new employees.