In 2023, the Bulgarian established Blue Economy sectors employ about 73 100 people and generate around €1.2 billion in GVA, a stark 19% increase over the previous year. The Blue Economy has had a positive impact on the Bulgarian workforce, employing about 2.6% of the national workforce in 2023. This share has increased on a year-to-year basis (+1.7%). Bulgaria has recorded an increase in contribution of Blue Economy sectors to the overall GVA, moving from 1.3% in 2023 to 1.4% in 2023.
The Bulgarian Blue Economy is dominated by Coastal tourism, which contributes to 64% of Bulgarian Blue Economy jobs and 55% to GVA. The tourism sector has still not fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, with employment level in line with the previous year but lower than 2019 peak (i.e. 63 800 people employed and 71% of blue economy jobs). A similar trend is observed also for the GVA of the sector, which although increased from €501 million 2022 (51% of the total Bulgarian blue economy) to €641 million in 2023, it is still far from the 2019 value of €628 million (representing 63%).
The sector that employs the second and third biggest shares of blue workers are Marine living resources (22%) and Shipbuilding and repair (7%). In terms of GVA, Marine living resources contributes to the GVA with the second-highest share (18%), followed by Shipbuilding and repair (13%).
In the EU, Bulgaria ranks 10th and 14th in terms of GVA and employment for the sector Marine non-living resources, respectively. Bulgaria also ranks 12th in EU in terms of people employed in the sector Coastal tourism.
The busiest container ports in 2024 in Bulgaria are: Port of Burgas (47th busiest port in EU in terms of gross weight of goods handled) and Port of Varna (69th). In terms of passengers embarked and disembarked in ports, Burgas ranked 457th and Varna 608th in 2024 in EU.
Several national ministries monitor the performances of the Bulgarian blue economy, such as the Bulgarian Ministry of Transport and Communcations and the Ministry of Environment and Water. The National Statistical Institute also reports business data on several sectors, including water transport and tourism.
Finally, Marine Cluster Bulgaria is a non-government organization consolidating the efforts of all sectors of the maritime economy in Bulgaria.
Bulgaria offers many opportunities to acquire education and skills within the blue economy fields, especially at the Technical University of Varna, at the University of Economics – Varna, and at the Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy, including bachelor, master and PhD programs.
For more national level data, please visit the Dashboards section within the EU Blue Economy Observatory, where you can also find information about Educational and Employment opportunities in the Blue Economy sectors.
Text version
This interactive dashboard presents the evolution of the blue economy for Bulgaria. It is designed to provide insights into key economic indicators over time.
At the top of the dashboard, there is a drop-down menu that allows users to select one of the following data categories:
- Employment: Number of jobs and workforce trends in the blue economy sectors.
- Gross Value Added (GVA): The contribution of the blue economy to the national economy.
- Turnover and Gross Profit: Revenue and profitability metrics of blue economy industries.
- Investment: Capital investment levels in blue economy sectors.
Once a category is selected, the main panel updates to display relevant visualisations, such as line charts or bar graphs, showing trends over time. These visualisations are accompanied by labels, legends, and tooltips to ensure clarity and accessibility.
The dashboard is navigable via keyboard and compatible with screen readers. All interactive elements are clearly labeled, and data visualisations include alternative text descriptions summarising key insights.