Poll: Business sentiment in Bulgaria drops in October
A regular monthly poll by the National Statistical Institute (NSI) has found that in October, business sentiment in Bulgaria was 2.7 percentage points lower compared with September.
Previous polls in recent months saw improvements in business sentiment in April and in May, followed by it being largely unchanged in June and July, with a slight decline in August and again largely unchanged in September.
In October 2023, only the services segment showed an increase, with indicators in the industry, construction and retail trade all declining, the NSI said.
The industry indicator was down 1.7 percentage points, as managers polled by NSI had a more negative view of the current state of their companies, despite a slight increase in the number of orders and average use of production capacity.
The construction indicator was 4.6 percentage points lower, owing to “reserved” expectations for the sector in the next six months and a forecast for reduced orders in the same time frame, NSI said.
The retail trade indicator posted the largest drop of 7.5 percentage points as retailers expected both sales volumes and orders to suppliers to decline in the next three months.
In Bulgaria’s service sector, the indicator rose by 1.8 percentage points, due to improved expectations by managers for the state of their businesses in the next six months, tempered by forecasts for reduced current and future demand.
(Photo: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)
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