Bulgaria is the second largest exporter of four types of goods, with exports last year earning over 68 million dollars or more than $ 114 million leva in 2017. An analysis by the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) shows that Bulgaria is the second largest producer of fresh duck meat, duck liver, canned cherry, as well as asbestos clothing and shoes designed for use in extreme working conditions.

Data for 2017 indicate that Bulgaria holds 26.7% of the world market for such garments and 26% of the duck liver market. For canned cherries the share is 18 per cent and for duck meat - 16 per cent. Our country is still the leader in the export of oil-bearing sunflower, rapeseed and anode copper, where it accounts for between 10 and 12 percent of global exports.

"Bulgarian exports have reached a new record in 2017 - $ 30.2 billion, and Bulgaria is now 61st (62 in 2016) among all exporters in the world," the paper said. "The groups with the largest exports are electronics, copper and copper products, machines and apparatus, and the energy carriers (fuels and electricity) fell from the top three and occupy the fourth position, followed by the grain," experts from BIA explained.

Also, in the last five years the growth of Bulgarian exports is faster than that of the world export, and this tendency is different for the different groups of goods. It speaks of the fact that our country manages to enter new markets by pushing away competitors. The most noticeable is the export of electronics, with Bulgarian exports growing by 5% while the global increase is 1%.

"The highest value goods in our export list in 2017 are cathode copper - $ 1 219 million, while export growth is 33% as compared to 2016. The anodic copper has an increase of 136% compared to 2016. Medium-weight fuels , wheat and light fuels complement the top five positions, "it is clear from the analysis.

Together, electricity, oilseed sunflower, cable bundles, machine nets and steel gas pipes are among the top 10 commodities, with a total of ten leading goods accounting for ¼ of exports. Over the last 5 years, export earnings have increased most in clothing and shoes from asbestos cement (16 times), rapeseed oil (5 times) and engines for ship movement (4 times).

For the same period, exports of copper insulation cables, rapeseed oil and copper-nickel alloys had the biggest growth. On the other hand, the drop is most serious in zinc sheets and tapes, as well as in semiconductor photosensitive elements - with over 64% of both groups. The main trading partners for Bulgaria are Germany, Italy, Romania, Turkey and Greece, which guarantee 44.1% of the country's exports. The companies in Bulgaria export to a total of 199 countries and territories, with the largest growth for the last 5 years in exports for markets where the value is not very high. These are Sudan, the Bahamas, India, and Egypt.