Bulgarians got by EUR 20 B richer since 2004, shows an analysis of the UniCredit Bulbank on the households' financial assets. 

In 2004 the Bulgarians had a little over EUR 7 B in bank deposits, stocks and other financial instruments. By the end of the year they would reach over EUR 26.9 B. Last year the assets were a total of EUR 24.94 B. 

Eighty-two percent of them were in bank deposits, the rest was in stocks, mutual and pension funds and insurances. The forecast for next year is the total sum to reach EUR 28.8 B. 

Debts, however, are also on the rise. In 10 years they increased five-fold – from EUR 2.3 B in 2004 to EUR 10.3 B this year. Forty-five percent of them are home mortgages, the remainder – consumer credits.  

Estimates show that as of 2014 the net financial wealth of the Bulgarian households is EUR 17 B – the difference between assets and debts. The net growth in 10 years reached EUR 12 B.

The analysis of UniCredit Bulbank, quoted by the 24 Chasa daily, shows that Bulgarians are the poorest in Central and Eastern Europe. For comparison, the wealth of the households in Croatia was EUR 41.87 B, in Romania – EUR 48.6 B, Slovaika – EUR 46.6 B, the Czech Republic – EUR 118.4 B, Poland – EUR 323 B, Hungary – EUR 66.3 B and Russia – EUR 503 B.