The average financial wealth of the Bulgarian citizens is nearly EUR 5,000. It includes savings of Bulgarian households in bank deposits, money in cash, money in pension, mutual and insurance companies, as well as direct investments in shares. The bank deposits continue to be the most popular form of saving amidst the Bulgarian citizens, reaching 67% of the total financial wealth of the population. According to latest data, the financial wealth of the Bulgarian population exceeds EUR 25 billion. It is still far under the average level in other EU member states, although it is expected to reach some EUR 27 billion in 2014. However, the financial assets of the Bulgarian households are twice bigger than the country’s public debt, which remains the poorest EU member state. The financial wealth of the Bulgarian citizens has seen a four-fold increase over the past 10 years, as a result of the growing amounts in savings. Experts claim that the countries from Southern and East Europe have started to catch up with the rest of the EU states in West Europe regarding financial indicators. Moreover, the indebtedness of these countries is three times lower than the one of old member states.

What does the financial wealth of the average Bulgarian, who possesses assets worth EUR 4,876, consists of? Some 82 percent of the money is kept in bank deposits, or merely in cash under the mattress. Another 16 percent of the money of Bulgarian households is invested in mutual and pension funds and other investment products. Only 2 percent of the money is invested in shares. The latter is due to the limited financial resource of the households which does not allow them to make bigger investments in such instruments. However, analysts note that the interest of the Bulgarians towards complex financial products has been on the rise recently, which means that the Bulgarian citizens have started to look for more long-term investments. Unfortunately, the financial wealth of the Bulgarians is much lower, as compared to the wealth of people in other EU states such as Luxembourg for instance, where each citizen possesses an average of EUR 432,200 in various assets.

On the other hand, the financial indebtedness of the Bulgarians amounts to EUR 10.39 billion, viewed end 2013. Most of the debt is formed by consumer loans and mortgage loans. Experts forecast that the indebtedness of the Bulgarians would reach EUR 10.38 billion in 2014.

The financial wealth of Bulgarian households is much lower, as compared to the wealth of other EU citizens. However, most Bulgarian households own one or more apartments, houses, villas in the countryside, farmlands and forest lands. Thus, the Bulgarians place among the biggest proprietors in Europe and those who pay rent are a minority in this country. According to experts, the value of the immovable properties owned by the Bulgarian households exceeds by 71 percent their total possessions. After the real estate bubble popped in 2008, the total value of the properties dropped significantly which affected, as a result, the financial wealth of the households as well. However, the property market has recently started to show signs of revival, which would inevitably cause an increase of property prices and the total value of the properties. It would have a positive effect over the material wealth of the population and reconfirm the forecasts of the experts who expect that the value of the financial and the material assets in Bulgaria would slowly start to grow until they reach the levels set in other EU member states.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov