In 2018, the average monthly poverty line for the country is 351.11 BGN average per person. The number of persons who are below this line is 1 550.8 thousand representing 22.0% of the population, according to data of the National Statistical Institute. 

The poverty line remains the same compared to the previous year and the share of poor population decreased by 1.4 percentage points. The social protection system contributes considerably to the poverty decrease. According to 2018 data, if the income from pensions is included into the household’s income and the rest social transfers are excluded, the poverty level increases from 22.0% to 29.5%, or by 7.5 percentage points.

And respectively, if the pensions and the rest of the social transfers are excluded, the poverty level increases up to 45.2%, or by 23.2 percentage points. The main factor influencing the risk of poverty for the prevailing part of population is the economic activity and participation in the labour market. For the observed period, the share of poor is highest among the unemployed (56.1%) and the risk of poverty for unemployed male is 11.8 percentage points higher than for unemployed female.

Share of poor among employed persons in 2018 remained at the level of the previous year - 10.1%. The risk of poverty is four times higher for persons working part time than for those working full-time. At the same time the risk of poverty among female is 2.9 percentage points lower than among male.

Educational level influences considerably the risk of poverty for employed. Highest is the share of working poor with primary and without education - 66.2%. The increase of educational level decreases the share of poor among employed with primary education about 2 times and more than 4 times for those with secondary education. The share of working poor with tertiary education is 6.2%.

Poverty estimates by type of household, show that poverty is concentrated among elderly single-person households older than 65 years, single parents with children and households with three or more children. Compared to the previous year, in 2018 highest is the decrease of the risk of poverty among households of two adults with three or more dependent children - a decrease of 13.8 percentage points. Share of poor is lowest among households with two adults with one child (12.0%) and two adults aged below 65 years (13.3%). Among single-person households, the risk of poverty is 16.3 percentage points higher for female than for male. Moreover, the risk of poverty among single-person households varies according to the household member age - it is 24.0 percentage points higher for persons aged 65 and over than for those aged below 65 years. 

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