May 7 (SeeNews) - Shadow economy in Bulgaria is estimated at 12.9 billion euro ($16.9 billion), equivalent to 31.2% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) projected for this year, Visa Europe said on Tuesday.
Despite a slight drop, the share of Bulgaria's shadow economy remains the highest in the European Union, a report by Visa Europe covering the EU member states, Turkey, Croatia, Norway and Switzerland indicated.
In 2011 and 2012 Bulgaria's informal economy was estimated at the equivalent 32.3% and 31.9% of GDP, respectively.
In both Romania and Croatia, the share of grey economy this year is seen at 28.4% of GDP, slightly lower than a year earlier. It is estimated at 39.6 billion euro in Romania and 12.7 billion euro in Croatia. In Slovenia shadow economy is estimated at 8.1 billion euro this year, equivalent to 23.1% of the country's GDP, which is 0.5 percentage points lower than a year earlier. Grey economy in Turkey is expected to reach 176.9 billion euro in 2013, equivalent to 26.5% of its GDP and 0.7 percentage points less than in 2012.
Shadow economy in Europe is set to be worth 2.1 trillion euro in 2013, equivalent to 18.5% of Europe's economic activity, the report added. Undeclared work accounts for two-thirds of shadow economy on the continent, while the rest is the result of sales under-reporting.
"While this signals a ten-year low for the shadow economy, the report shows that it is still a cash-based phenomenon across Europe driven predominantly by undeclared work and under-reporting," it noted.
($=0.763 euro)