Foreign investment in Bulgaria concentrated in Sofia, Burgas, Plovdiv

Foreign investment in Bulgaria’s non-financial enterprises reached 33.9 billion euros ($36.8 billion) at the end of 2024, up about 1.2 billion euros from a year earlier, a study by the Institute for Market Economics showed.

Almost half of this total - 18.3 billion euros - is concentrated in Sofia, primarily in sectors such as information technology, outsourcing and trade. Burgas follows with 1.9 billion euros, while Plovdiv comes third with 1.6 billion euros. The industrial centres of Varna and Devnya follow.

Significant investment has also been reported in smaller municipalities such as Elin Pelin, Galabovo, Sevlievo and Bozhurishte, where industry plays a key role. In per capita terms, Devnya has the highest level, at about 101,000 euros per person, followed by Galabovo.

At the same time, foreign investment is virtually absent in large parts of northern Bulgaria, particularly along the Danube, the border with Serbia and in mountainous regions.

Editor: Miglena Ivanova