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Photo: Stella Ivanova
Despite a noticeable rise in Bulgaria’s minimum wage in recent years, the number of employed individuals living below the poverty line continues to grow. Official documents accompanying the government’s 2026 poverty line decree indicate that the threshold will be set at 764 leva, up 19.7% from this year’s 638 leva.
Analysis of the data for 2024 shows that 12.1% of employed Bulgarians aged 18-64 are considered poor, marking a 0.4 percentage point increase from the previous year. Part-time workers face roughly three times the risk of poverty compared with those in full-time positions, while employed women have a 2.5 percentage point lower risk of falling into poverty than men. By comparison, in 2022, 10% of employed individuals in the same age group were living below the poverty line.
Educational attainment remains a key factor influencing the likelihood of working poverty. According to NSI statistics, individuals with little or no formal education are the most vulnerable, with 56.3% living in poverty. This risk declines significantly with higher education levels: those with secondary education are five times less likely to be poor, while the share of working poor among people with higher education is the lowest at 4.8%.
Last year, with a poverty threshold of 638 leva, 1.326 million people, or 20.6% of Bulgaria’s population, were living below the poverty line, underscoring the persistent challenge of working poverty despite economic gains.
A government aircraft arriving from Abu Dhabi touched down at Sofia Airport at around 2.30 a.m., carrying evacuated Bulgarian nationals.
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In the upcoming early parliamentary elections on April 19, Bulgarians living outside the European Union will have access to no more than 20 polling stations
Bulgaria remains at the bottom of the European Union in terms of minimum wage, lagging behind not only EU neighbors but also countries outside the bloc such as Turkey, Serbia, and Albania
During the night, cloud cover will shift toward western regions but will gradually clear, leaving most of the country with mostly clear skies by morning.
A total of 326 Bulgarian citizens are returning from Dubai today on a special flight organized by the state. Gulliver Airlines is operating the Airbus A330-203, departing from Sofia in the early afternoon and arriving at Al Maktoum International Airport i
The process of bringing Bulgarian citizens home from the Middle East is ongoing, as authorities continue to coordinate evacuations from several countries in the region
The Sofia Municipality has completed contractor selection procedures for two waste management zones in the capital: Zone 2, covering Vazrazhdane, Oborishte and the central part of Triaditsa, and Zone 5, which includes Iskar, Kremikovtsi and Pancharevo
On Friday, March 6, Bulgaria will experience varying weather across its regions. In the eastern part of the country, skies will remain mostly cloudy, with light rain possible in some areas during the afternoon
In Razlog, medical staff faced two unusual cases within a single week, where broken limbs of young children were immobilized using cardboard instead of proper splints.
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