Foreign direct investment in Bulgaria in the first 10 months of the year stood at 1.24 billion euro, the equivalent of 1.2 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP), statistics from the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) showed on December 18.
In the same period of 2023, FDI was 3.57 billion euro, although BNB originally reported 3.4 billion euro, which was revised upward later.
Investment in equity, including in the real estate sector, was 47.4 million euro (compared to 768.5 million euro in January-October 2023) and the BNB figures showed 1.3 billion euro in re-invested earnings (compared to 2.82 billion euro for the first 10 months of last year.)
Net receipts from real estate investments by foreign companies recorded a net outflow of 9.7 million euro, compared to a net outflow of 14.7 million euro recorded in the first 10 months of 2023.
The central bank data showed 103 million euro in investment outflows as debt instruments, recorded as the change in the net liabilities of Bulgarian companies towards their foreign investor owners, compared to a net outflow of 21.6 million euro in the first 10 months of last year. Such financial flows include financial loans, suppliers’ credits and debt securities, BNB said.
By country, the largest direct investment in Bulgaria in January-October came from Austria (402.4 million euro), the Netherlands (309.1 million euro) and Greece (255.8 million euro). Notable net outflows were recorded towards Luxembourg (-294.5 million euro) and the United States (-257.7 million euro).
According to preliminary figures, Bulgarian investment abroad increased by 510.9 million euro in January-October, compared to 577.4 million euro in the first 10 months of last year, BNB said.