The gross monthly salary in the IT sector last year reached BGN 4,857.

The gross monthly salary in the IT sector last year reached BGN 4,857, which is an increase of BGN 500 per year and is 3.2 times higher than the average salary in the country. This is shown by the data of the Bulgarian Association of Software Companies (BASCOM), which every year publishes the annual report "Barometer".

The data is based on the results of 4,600 companies in the country. In the barometer, a comparison is given between the salary of a software engineer in Bulgaria compared to similar positions of those employed in Germany and Great Britain. Thus, the equivalent of Bulgaria in Germany, viewed through this coefficient, shows an annual amount of 64,468 euros per engineer in Bulgaria and 54,316 euros in Germany. The picture is similar in comparison with Great Britain. 

BASCOM's forecast is that the purchasing power of Bulgarian software engineers will continue to be higher than that of their colleagues in the two cited countries. The revenues of the companies in the branch last year grew to BGN 5.475 million according to a forecast, which is an increase for a year from 20.2%. Annual growth was higher, at 24%, in 2017 and 2018. Over 80% of the revenue was from exports, the data indicated.

Last year, 5,450 new jobs were created in the IT sector or 13% annual growth, which means about 46,000 employed in the software industry.

The organization estimates that the taxes and insurance contributions paid by the industry last year, according to forecast data, totaled BGN 1,040 billion (an increase of BGN 170 million compared to 2020), with BGN 562 million attributable to insurance. Each workplace in the branch generates about BGN 21,000 "stable and predictable" tax revenues, the analysis also says.

They indicate that more than 60 global software brands are already working in Bulgaria. It is estimated that revenues in the sector represent 4.3% of the country's GDP.