The total income average per household member in Bulgaria during the fourth quarter of 2020 is at 1.805 BGN, NSI reports.
This is an increase by 2.0% compared to the same quarter of 2019.
The highest relative share of income within the total income is this from wages and salaries (54.1%). Income from pensions is at 30.1% and from self-employment at 6.2%.
Compared to the Q4 2019 the relative share of income from wages and salaries decreases by 2.1 percentage points (pp) and income from pensions increases by 2.8%.
The total expenditure average per household member during the fourth quarter of 2020 is 1,681 BGN, an increase by 0.7%.
The greatest share in forming the total expenditure has expenditure on food and non-alcoholic beverages, 28.8% as well as expenditure on housing, 18.2%.
Taxes and social insurance contributions count for 12.9% and transport and communication for 11.3% of total expenditure.
Czechia will cut the income tax next year, a measure that according to the Prague government would help the economy recover from the coronavirus recession, Bloomberg reports.
The Parliament approved a reduction in income tax proposed by billionaire Prime Minister Andrej Babis, who wants to extend incentives beyond current measures such as paying wages for temporarily laid off workers and subsidizing small businesses.
The Czech Ministry of Finance estimates that this change, which introduces a tax threshold of 15% for those on low incomes and one of 23% for those on high incomes, will reduce state revenues by about 80 billion kroner (3.6 billion dollars) next year, or 1.3% of GDP.
The plan was criticized by Central Bank Governor Jiri Rusnok, who said it would create a long term hole in public finances.
Greece encourages people to move to the country and promises that half of their income will be tax-exempt, Bloomberg reports.
Greece currently applies a 44% tax rate for earnings in excess of € 40,000.
The new facilities will be valid for a maximum period of seven years for workers who want to move their tax base to Greece, regardless of nationality and type of work.
The offer will also be valid for Greeks living abroad if they return home.
Greece wants to get investors back after four years of less business friendly policies adopted by the previous left-wing government.
Through its new incentive plan, the Greek government is simultaneously focusing on the UK and employees or freelancers who may be forced to leave the UK due to Brexit.
Attracting foreigners and reversing the brain drain is seen as crucial to boosting economic performance after a decade of debt crisis that wiped out about 25 percent of Greece’s GDP.
The Czech economy contracted by 10.9% in the second quarter of 2020, the most severe decline in the country’s history, according to revised data released by the Czech Statistical Office.
Czechia’s GDP is expected to decline between 6% and 8% this year, followed by an advance of 3.9% next year.
Amid the pandemic crisis, the deficit target has been set at 500 billion Czech crowns, or 8.8% of GDP, from the initial target of 40 billion Czech crowns, but the budget is on schedule for a deficit of 400 billion Czech crowns.
Monthly income from employment decreased by 7.1%
The average monthly income from employment reached CZK 34.142 in the Q2 and it decreased in real terms by 7.1%, compared to last quarter.
In the year-on-year comparison it was 7.4% down.
The significant decrease of income from employment reflected shutdown of production and closure of some (business) establishments/premises due to coronavirus pandemic.
The total income average per household member during the first quarter of 2020 is 1.712 BGN and increases by 12.7% compared to the same quarter of 2019, show National statistical institutelatest data.
The highest relative share of income within the total income is this from wages and salaries (58.5%). The relative share of income from pensions is 27.7%, from self-employment – 5.6%.
The relative share of income from wages and salaries increases by 0.9 percentage points (pp) and from social benefits increases by 0.5 pp compared to the first quarter of 2019.
The income from self-employment decreases by 0.8 pp and the income from pensions decreases by 0.2 pp.
The nominal income by source average per capita during the first quarter of 2020 compared to the same quarter of 2019 changes as follows:
Income from wages and salaries increases from 874 BGN to 1.002 BGN (by 14.6%);
Income from pensions increases from 424 BGN to 473 BGN (by 11.6%);
Self-employment income is without change – 96 BGN;
Income from social benefits increases from 35 BGN to 50 BGN (by 42.2%).
The total expenditure average per household member is 1.486 BGN
The total expenditure average per household member during the first quarter of 2020 is 1.486 BGN and increases by 5.9% in comparison to the same quarter of 2019.
The greatest share in forming the total expenditure has expenditure on food and non-alcoholic beverages – 31.0% as well as expenditure on housing – 17.4%, taxes and social insurance contributions – 14.7% and transport and communication – 11.6%.
The expenditure by group average per capita changes as absolute values during the first quarter of 2020 compared to the same quarter of 2019 as follows:
Expenditure on food and non-alcoholic beverages increases from 423 BGN to 461 BGN (by 9.0%);
Expenditure on alcoholic beverages and tobacco increases from 59 BGN to 65 BGN (by 11.6%);
Expenditure on clothing and footwear decreases from 42 BGN to 35 BGN (by 17.3%);
Expenditure on housing (water, electricity, heating, furnishing and maintenance of the house) increases from 255 BGN to 258 BGN (by 1.3%);
Expenditure on health increases from 84 BGN to 102 BGN (by 20.7%);
Expenditure on transport and communication increases from 170 BGN to 172 BGN (by 1.0%);
Expenditure on recreation, culture and education decreases from 49 BGN to 47 BGN (by 5.2%);
Expenditure on taxes and social insurance contributions increases from 196 BGN to 219 BGN (by 11.8%).
In 2019, the average monthly poverty line for Bulgaria is 413.04 BGN average per person. The number of persons who are below this line is 1.586.200 representing 22.6 % of the population, Money Buzz! learned from the latest data published by the National Statistic Institute of Bulgaria.
Compared to the previous year, the poverty line increased by 17.6% and the relative share of the poor population increased by 0.6 percentage points.
The social protection system contributes considerably to the poverty decrease. According to 2019 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 22.6% to 29.6%, or by 7.0 percentage points.
And respectively, if the pensions and the rest of the social transfers are excluded, the poverty level increases up to 42.2%, or by 19.6 percentage points.
The main factor influencing the risk of poverty for the prevailing part of the population is the economic activity and participation in the labour market.
For the observed period, the share of poor is highest among the unemployed (58.9%) and the risk of poverty for unemployed male is 14.2 percentage points higher than for unemployed female.
Educational level influences the risk of poverty
Educational level influences considerably the risk of poverty for employed. Highest is the share of working poor with primary and without education – 55.5%.
The increase of educational level decreases the share of poor among employed with primary education about 2 times and more than 7 times for those with secondary education. The share of working poor with tertiary education is 2.5%.
Poverty is more present in some specific households
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 2019 highest is the decrease of the risk of poverty among households of two adults with three or more dependent children – a decrease of 4.6 percentage points.
Share of poor is lowest among households with two adults with one child (10.7%) and two adults aged below 65 years (13.5%).
Among single-person households the risk of poverty is 14.5 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 31.0 percentage points higher for persons aged 65 and over than for those aged below 65 years.
Poverty at regional level
Lowest poverty threshold in 2019 is observed in districts Montana and Pazardzhik – 268 and 292 BGN respectively, and the highest – in district Sofia (stolitsa) – 589 BGN, followed by districts Pernik (475 BGN) and Stara Zagora (459 BGN).
Highest share of people at-risk-of-poverty is observed in districts Sliven – 30.1%, Kyustendil – 28.8%, Vratsa 27.7%, and Yambol – 27.4%.
Lowest is the share of people at-risk-of-poverty in districts Pleven – 14.3%, Blagoevgrad – 16.5%, Sofia – 16.8%, and Lovech – 18.5%.
The poverty threshold in 2019 increased compared to 2018 in the all districts. The highest growth was recorded in the districts of Razgrad (by 37.2%), Vratsa (by 34.9%), Lovech (34.7%), Pernik (by 34.6%), Smolyan and Silistra by 33.4% each.
The lowest increases were observed in the districts of Yambol (by 1.6%), Pleven (by 5.8%), Plovdiv (by 6.6%), and Haskovo (by 8.8%).
The lowest share of poor for male – 11.8%, is observed in district Pleven, while the highest one – in district Silistra – 28.8%. Lowest is the at-risk-of-poverty rate for female in district Blagoevgrad – 15.6%, compared to highest in district Kyustendil and Sliven – 31.6%.
In districts Gabrovo, Ruse, Smolyan, Yambol, Sofia, Haskovo, Kyustendil and Varna the share of female atrisk-of-poverty is more than 5 p.p. higher than of male.
In 8 districts – Montana, Vratsa, Veliko Tarnovo, Vidin, Kardzhali, Blagoevgrad, Pazardzhik and Silistra the share of poor male is higher than the share of poor female.
