Commercial and Economic Section of the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in Brussels, Belgium, with accreditation for Luxembourg
Bozhidar Patinov
Minister PlenipotentiaryHead of Trade and Economic Office
Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in Belgium
Address: Avenue Moscicki, 1180 Bruxelles
GSM: 00 32 471 36 32 65
Phone/Fax: 0032 2 280 34 63 e-mail: b.patinov@mi.government.bg
Contacts in the Ministry of Economy and Industry
Vessela Bayraktarova Head of Europe Department Foreign Economic Cooperation Directorate tel.: +359 2 9407886 v.bairaktarova@mi.government.bg Ketya Manoilova State expert, Europe department Foreign economic cooperation directorate tel.: + 359 2 940 7823 k.manoilova@mi.government.bg
Еconomic relations between Bulgaria and Belgium
- Trade turnover (mln. euro)
| Year | Total turnover | Growth, % | Export | Growth, % | Import | Growth, % | Balance |
| 2011 | 1396.8 | 46.78 | 999.3 | 70.15 | 397.5 | 12.15 | 601.8 |
| 2012 | 1210.9 | -13.3 | 765.9 | -23.4 | 445.8 | 12.0 | 319.3 |
| 2013 | 1121.7 | -26.9 | 642.7 | -16.1 | 479 | -37.7 | 163.7 |
| 2014 | 1441.5 | 28.5 | 903.4 | 40.6 | 538.1 | 12.3 | 365.3 |
| 2015 | 1460.9 | 1.3 | 853.7 | -5.5 | 607.2 | 12.8 | 246.5 |
| 2016 | 1 254.1 | -14.2 | 646.5 | -24.3 | 607.6 | 0.1 | 38.9 |
| 2017 | 1 760.5 | 39.9 | 1 122.4 | 73.6 | 638.2 | 5.0 | 484.2 |
| 2018 | 1 620.2 | -8.0 | 982.3 | -12.5 | 637.95 | 0 | 344.3 |
| 2019 | 1493.2 | -7.9 | 850.9 | -13.4 | 642.3 | 0.6 | 208.7 |
| 2020 | 1548.4 | 3.7 | 963.7 | 13.3 | 584.6 | -9.0 | 379.1 |
| 2021 | 1128.9 | 16.0 | 1128.9 | 16.0 | 757.3 | 29.5 | 371.6 |
| 2021 1-6 | 942.5 |
| 584.8 |
| 357.7 |
| 227.1 |
| 2022 1-6 | 929.6 | -1.4 | 444.5 | -24.0 | 485.1 | 35.6 | -40.6 |
Source: Ministry of Economy and Industry
- Belgian Investments in Bulgaria
In 2021, Belgian investments in Bulgaria amounted to EUR 181.7 mln.
By the end of 2021, Belgium’s foreign direct investment in Bulgaria amounts to EUR 1851.0 million euros.
For the first quarter of 2022, Belgian investments in Bulgaria are 187.9 million euros. In the second quarter of 2022, investments have a negative sign, -110.3 million euros.
Source: Bulgarian National Bank
- Tourism – Belgium tourists in Bulgaria
| Year | Belgium tourists in Bulgaria |
| 2011 | 69 913 |
| 2012 | 66 345 |
| 2013 | 67 777 |
| 2014 | 88 571 |
| 2015 | 75 367 |
| 2016 | 89 542 |
| 2017 | 122 387 |
| 2018 | 117 535 |
| 2019 | 122 616 |
| 2020 | 12 800 |
| 2021 | 48 030 |
Source: Ministry of Tourism
The number of tourists from Belgium in the period January – December 2021 amounted to 48,030. A growth of 149.1% was registered for the period, compared to the same period in 2020.
In 2021, Bulgarian citizens made a total of 5,182,042 trips abroad, but the study by destinations for the period has been discontinued.
During the period January-June 2022, 19,001 Belgian tourists visited Bulgaria, which is an increase of 263.3% compared to the same period of 2021.