• In Sofia fully 12.4 percent of adults are employed in brain business jobs. This is amongst the highest shares in all of Europe.

• In the average European region 5.8 percent of adults work in brain business jobs. The share of knowledge-intensive workers in Sofia is 114% higher than the average European region.

• Another measure is high-value-creating jobs, which includes not only the most knowledge-intensive occupations, but also work in manufacturing industries and professional services. 39.7 percent of adults in Sofia are employed in these jobs. In the average European region, 31.2 percent of adults are employed in high-value-creating jobs.

The Geography of Europe's Brain Business Jobs is an index that since 2017 has studied the geography of knowledge-intensive jobs in Europe. The index by ECEPR, with support from Nordic Capital, measures the share of the working-age population across Europe employed in highly knowledge-intensive enterprises, in 31 countries and 277 regions.

"An important finding of this index is that regions need brain business jobs, or else jobs in manufacturing industries and professional services. Each percentage point higher share of the population that are employed in these high-value-creating jobs corresponds with 0.21 percent lower regional unemployment. Essentially, regions need to have jobs high up on the value chain, to generate exports and stimulate job creation", explains Nima Sanandaji, director of ECEPR.

Klas Tikkanen, chief operating officer at Nordic Capital Advisors, adds, "Financial resources are needed for jobs high up in the value chain to grow. Countries with competitive taxes tend to experience fastest growth of knowledge-intensive jobs. Just above a third of the variation of growth rate in brain business jobs amongst European countries can be explained in the variance in the tax level".

163 400 brain business jobs in Sofia

In total numbers, there are 163 400 brain business jobs in Amsterdam. This is just higher than 162 400 in Prague, but lower than 285 400 in Warsaw and 253 300 in Budapest. In all of Europe, the highest number is found in Paris, where nearly 1.3 million are employed in brain business jobs.

Programming is the most common brain business jobs activity in Sofia

Programming is the most common brain business job in Sofia, with 61 100 employed in companies in this sector. Additionally, 17 300 are employed in telecommunications, while 17 800 work in design & other creative professions.

4 out of 10 top brain business jobs regions are found in Eastern Europe, 3 in Western, 2 in the Nordics, and 1 in Southern Europe

In all previous editions of this index, the Slovakian capital region of Bratislava has had the highest concentration of brain business jobs per capita. This year Budapest climbs to the number one spot, followed by Bratislava and Prague on third place. Oberbayern, Paris, Stockholm, the Oxford region (Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire), Copenhagen, London, and Bucharest are the other top-10 regions. Four of the regions in the top-10 are found in Eastern Europe, three in Western Europe, two in the Nordics, and one in Southern Europe.

Brain business jobs are occupations within knowledge-intensive industries. The report is available on the ECEPR webpage here.