SOFIA (Bulgaria), December 10 (SeeNews) – Bulgaria’s gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by a preliminary 5.4% year-on-year in real terms in the third quarter of 2009, compared to a 6.8% growth recorded a year earlier, data of the National Statistics Office (NSI) showed on Thursday.
The country's third-quarter GDP totalled 18.056 billion levs ($13.579 billion/9.23 billion euro) in current prices, NSI said in a statement.
Bulgaria's economy contracted by a real 4.7% on the year in the first nine months of 2009, compared to a 7.0% growth in the same period of 2008. The country's nine-month GDP reached 48.339 billion levs.
Both data for the third quarter and for the first nine months improved as compared to the NSI’s flash estimate released last month, which showed an economic contraction of 5.8% and 4.8%, respectively, in real terms.
The value added totalled 40.672 billion levs in the first nine months, down by a real 3.2% on the year.
Industry accounted for 31.1% of the value added, down by a real 8.3% year-on-year.
Services rose by a real 0.7% in January-September 2009, generating 62% of the value added. Production in the agricultural sector contracted by a real 1.4% on the year in the first nine months of 2009.
In the third quarter, the farm sector dropped by 1.6% on the year and the industrial sector rose by a real 1.0%. Services rose by a real 0.6% year-on-year in the quarter.
BULGARIA'S GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT:
|
Q3'09 |
9-mo'09 |
Q3'08 |
9-mo'08 |
GDP real growth (y/y pct change) |
-5.4 |
-4.7 |
+6.8 |
+7.0 |
GDP (mln levs) |
18,056.287 |
48,339.022 |
18,609.573 |
48,037.389 |
-Consumption |
13,529.052 |
39,529.502 |
14,310.618 |
40,046.152 |
--Individual |
12,177.993 |
35,383.067 |
13,029.418 |
36,368.074 |
--Public |
1,351.059 |
4,146.435 |
1,281.200 |
3,678.078 |
-Gross Capital Formation |
3,816.449 |
12,458.923 |
6,576.955 |
18,276.268 |
-Trade Balance |
710.786 |
-3,649.403 |
-2,278.000 |
-10,285.031 |
--Exports |
10,306.687 |
24,995.755 |
12,498.235 |
32,065.149 |
--Imports |
9,595.901 |
28,645.158 |
14,776.235 |
42,350.180 |
The country's economy grew by a real 6.0% in 2008, slower than the 6.2% growth it posted a year earlier.
(1 euro = 1.95583 Bulgarian levs)