Balgarianovinite.com The average unemployment rate in Bulgaria in 2025 was 3.5% (3.7% for men and 3.3% for women), decreasing by 0.7 percentage points compared with 2024, the National Statistical Institute reported on Friday.
The average number of unemployed people in 2025 was 106,900, of whom 59,300 (55.5%) were men and 47,600 (44.5%) were women.
Of all unemployed persons, 16% had higher education, 53.4% had secondary education and 30.6% had primary or lower education, the data show. The unemployment rates by education level were 1.4% for higher education, 3.6% for secondary education and 12.5% for primary and lower education.
Among young people (ages 15 to 29), joblessness averaged 7.7% in the reporting year.
The share of long-term unemployed among all unemployed people was 42.4%, and the long-term unemployment rate was 1.5% (1.6% for men and 1.4% for women).
In the past year, the total number of employed persons was 2,930,100, of whom 1,552,400 (53%) were men and 1,377,700 (47%) were women. The employment rate for the population aged 15 and over was 53.2% (59.3% for men and 47.6% for women).
The data show that 2,003,000 people, or 68.4% of employed individuals, worked in the services sector, 787,200 (26.9%) in industry and 139,900 (4.8%) in agriculture, forestry and fishing.
By employment status, 5.6% (165,300) were employers, 7.1% (209,100) were self-employed without employees, 86.9% (2,546,700) were employees, and 0.3% (9,100) were unpaid family workers. Of all employees, 1,888,700 (74.2%) worked in the private sector and 658,100 (25.8%) in the public sector.
The average number of employed persons aged 15–64 was 2,809,300 in 2025. The average employment rate for this age group was 70.9% (74.2% for men and 67.5% for women).
The employment rate for the population aged 20–64 was 77%. Among men in this group, it was 80.6%, and among women, 73.2%. For the 55–64 age group, the rate was 71.2% (75.5% for men and 67% for women).
In 2025, the average number of economically active persons aged 15–64 was 2,913,800, or 73.5% of this population. Compared with 2024, the economic activity rate decreased by 0.5 percentage points.
Economically inactive people aged 15–64 numbered 1,049,900, of whom 460,600 were men and 589,300 were women. The economic inactivity rate for this group was 26.5% (23% for men and 30.1% for women). The number of discouraged persons was 16,500, or 1.6% of all economically inactive people in this age group.
The average share of early leavers from education and training among people aged 18–24 was 8.6% in 2025. The share of people with higher education among those aged 25–34 was 41.2%.
The share of young people aged 15–29 who were neither in employment nor in education and training was 13.8%. 2025 Average Unemployment at 3.5%, Down by 0.7 pp from 2024 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-03-13 12:04:20 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law