Bulgaria

Goods Imports: CIF, by consignment

Goods Exports: FOB, by last known destination

Trade System: Special

Overview:
In 2013, the value of merchandise exports of Bulgaria increased substantially by 10.5 percent to reach 29.5 bln US$, while its merchandise
imports increased slightly by 4.8 percent to reach 34.3 bln US$ (see graph 1, table 2 and table 3). The merchandise trade balance recorded a
relatively small deficit of 4.8 bln US$ (see graph 1). The largest merchandise trade balance was with MDG CIS at -5.8 bln US$ (see graph 4).
Merchandise exports in Bulgaria were diversified amongst partners; imports were also diversified. The top 22 partners accounted for 80
percent or more of exports and 15 partners accounted for 80 percent or more of imports (see graph 5). In 2012, the value of exports of services
of Bulgaria decreased slightly by 0.9 percent, reaching 7.4 bln US$, while its imports of services increased slightly by 3.8 percent and reached
4.4 bln US$ (see graph 2). There was a moderate trade in services surplus of 3.0 bln US$.

Graph 1: Total merchandise trade, by value

Graph 2: Total services trade, by value

(Bln US$ by year)

(Bln US$ by year)

Exports

40

Imports

Trade Balance

Exports

30

20

10

10

20

30

40

Imports

Trade Balance

(na)

Exports Profile:
"Goods classified chiefly by material" (SITC section 6), "machinery and
transport equipment" (SITC section 7) and "mineral fuels, lubricants"
(SITC section 3) were the largest commodity groups for exports in 2013
representing respectively 22.0, 17.6 and 14.7 percent of exported goods
(see table 2). From 2011 to 2013, the largest export commodity was
"petroleum oils, other than crude" (HS code 2710) (see table 1). The top
three destinations for merchandise exports were Germany, Turkey and
Italy, accounting for respectively 11.5, 9.0 and 8.6 percent of total
exports. "Travel" (EBOPS code 236) accounted for the largest share of
exports of services in 2012 at 3.7 bln US$, followed by "Transportation"
(EBOPS code 205) at 1.4 bln US$ and "Other business services" (EBOPS
code 268) at 933.0 mln US$ (see graph 3).

13

12

20

11

20

10

20

09

20

08

20

07

20

06

20

05

20

04

20

03

20

02

20

01

20

00

20

20

13

12

20

11

20

10

20

09

20

08

20

07

20

06

20

05

20

04

20

03

20

02

20

01

20

20

20

00

(na)

Graph 3: Exports of services by EBOPS category

(% share in 2012)

Travel ( 50.8 %)

Transportation
( 19.3 %)

Other business
( 12.6 %)
Remaining ( 9.1 %)

Computer &
information ( 8.1 %)

Table 1: Top 10 export commodities 2011 to 2013

HS
code

4-digit heading of Harmonized System 2007

All Commodities............................................................................................................
2710 Petroleum oils, other than crude...................................................................................
7403 Refined copper and copper alloys, unwrought..............................................................
7402 Unrefined copper; copper anodes for electrolytic refining...........................................
1001 Wheat and meslin.........................................................................................................
9999 Commodities not specified according to kind...............................................................
3004 Medicaments (excluding goods of heading 30.02, 30.05 or 30.06)..............................
1206 Sunflower seeds, whether or not broken......................................................................
2716 Electrical energy............................................................................................................
8544 Insulated (including enamelled or anodised) wire, cable.............................................
2603 Copper ores and concentrates.......................................................................................

2011

Value (million US$)

2012
2013

28 165.2
3 028.3
1 839.6
864.4
577.5
813.3
624.7
676.3
602.2
425.9
263.3

26 698.8
3 752.2
1 630.4
658.0
716.6
610.5
649.3
507.3
500.9
355.0
375.8

Source: UN Comtrade and UN ServiceTrade

29 512.3
3 855.2
1 479.7
1 028.1
950.8
678.6
780.7
741.8
452.9
374.2
368.5

Unit value
2011 2012 2013
Unit

SITC
code

0.8
6.5
10.9
0.3

0.9
8.0
9.4
0.3

0.8
7.4
8.5
0.3

US$/kg
US$/kg
US$/kg
US$/kg

49.8
0.6
67.2
14.8
2.0

41.1
0.7
65.6
13.2
1.8

52.5
0.6
59.0
13.8
1.6

US$/kg
US$/kg
US$/MWh
US$/kg
US$/kg

334
682
682
041
931
542
222
351
773
283

Bulgaria
Services Imports and Exports: EBOPS 2002 categories

Table 2: Merchandise exports by SITC

Table 3: Merchandise imports by SITC

(Value in million US$, growth and shares in percentage)

(Value in million US$, growth and shares in percentage)

Avg. Growth rates

2009-2013 2012-2013

10.5
23.3
8.5
0.7
9.0
7.7
18.7
8.5
8.5

100.0
13.4
9.3
14.7
8.0
22.0
17.6
12.4
2.4

34 306.8
2 864.0
3 297.6
7 903.2
4 041.5
5 373.2
7 659.5
2 129.7
1 038.2

(Bln US$ by MDG Regions in 2013)

Trade balance

Transportation
( 29.0 %)

Other business
( 21.3 %)

Remaining ( 20.0 %)

Exports
(Herfindahl Index = 0.051)

Top
partner

10

80

60

40

20

20

80

0%

25 th

25 th

20 th

20 th

15 th

0%

15 th

10 th

10 th

5 th

5 th

10

15

10

0
1

5
1

Graph 6: Imports of services by EBOPS category

Travel ( 29.8 %)

100.0
8.3
9.6
23.0
11.8
15.7
22.3
6.2
3.0

Imports
(Herfindahl Index = 0.072)

Top
partner

(% share in 2012)

4.8
8.0
7.8
-2.9
10.2
8.3
2.5
13.9
13.3

(Cumulative share by ranked partners in 2013)

Exports

Developed AsiaPacific
Developed Europe
Developed N. America
Southeastern Europe
CIS
Northern Africa
SubSaharan Africa
Latin Am, Caribbean
Eastern Asia
Southern Asia
Southeastern Asia
Western Asia
Oceania

10.1
7.0
21.0
13.9
11.9
8.2
7.3
4.6
5.1

SITC
Code
Description
Total All commodities
0+1 Food, animals + beverages, tobacco
2+4 Crude materials + anim. & veg. oils
3 Mineral fuels, lubricants
5 Chemicals
6 Goods classified chiefly by material
7 Machinery and transport equipment
8 Miscellaneous manufactured articles
9 Not classified elsewhere in the SITC

2013
share

Graph 5: Partner concentration of merchandise trade

Graph 4: Merchandise trade balance

Imports

Avg. Growth rates

2009-2013 2012-2013

2013

40

15.6
16.3
20.1
20.3
17.4
14.7
16.9
7.1
19.9

SITC
Total
0+1
2+4
3
5
6
7
8
9

60

29 512.3
3 965.3
2 747.2
4 346.2
2 374.7
6 494.5
5 197.7
3 672.3
714.3

2013
share

0%

2013

20

SITC
Total
0+1
2+4
3
5
6
7
8
9

SITC Legend

Imports Profile:
"Mineral fuels, lubricants" (SITC section 3), "machinery and transport
equipment" (SITC section 7) and "goods classified chiefly by material" (SITC
section 6) were the largest commodity groups for imports in 2013
representing respectively 23.0, 22.3 and 15.7 percent of imported goods
(see table 3). From 2011 to 2013, the largest import commodity was
"petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, crude" (HS
code 2709) (see table 4). The top three partners for merchandise imports
were the Russian Federation, Germany and Italy, accounting for
respectively 19.0, 11.0 and 7.1 percent of total imports. "Travel" (EBOPS
code 236) accounted for the largest share of imports of services in 2012
at 1.3 bln US$, followed by "Transportation" (EBOPS code 205) at 1.3 bln
US$ and "Other business services" (EBOPS code 268) at 932.3 mln US$
(see graph 6).

Table 4: Top 10 import commodities 2011 to 2013

HS
code

4-digit heading of Harmonized System 2007

All Commodities............................................................................................................
2709 Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, crude.............................
2603 Copper ores and concentrates.......................................................................................
2710 Petroleum oils, other than crude...................................................................................
2711 Petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons......................................................
3004 Medicaments (excluding goods of heading 30.02, 30.05 or 30.06)..............................
9999 Commodities not specified according to kind...............................................................
8703 Motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport...............
8541 Diodes, transistors and similar semiconductor devices................................................
8517 Electrical apparatus for line telephony or line telegraphy............................................
7404 Copper waste and scrap................................................................................................

2011

Value (million US$)

2012
2013

32 493.6
4 022.5
1 772.2
1 585.5
1 310.1
947.6
870.7
651.7
480.1
441.6
407.4

32 743.1
4 753.7
1 577.3
1 496.5
1 402.8
885.7
907.4
595.0
794.1
380.6
463.8

Source: UN Comtrade and UN ServiceTrade

Unit value
2011 2012 2013
Unit

34 306.8
US$/kg
4 486.4 0.8 0.8 0.8
US$/kg
1 950.4 2.1 2.1 1.9
US$/kg
1 709.7 0.9 0.9 0.9
US$/kg
1 282.8 0.5 0.6 0.6
US$/kg
1 001.9 62.5 52.4 62.6
1 028.5
761.2
9.1 10.2 thsd US$/unit
162.9
443.8
US$/kg
374.3 7.8 7.2 6.7

SITC
code
333
283
334
343
542
931
781
776
764
288