EUR 648 per month is the net income a working person needs to cover the cost of living, according to the Institute for Social and Trade Union Research of the Confederation of Independent Trade Union (CITUB).

In June, a family of three – two working parents and one child – needed EUR 1,168 per month, without any luxury spending. Since the beginning of the year, living expenses have gone up by 15.6%, CITUB President Plamen Dimitrov stated. In the space of a year, living expenses for one household member have gone up by EUR 102, with food expenses rising most steeply. According to the CITUB, more than 1.7 million Bulgarians receive salaries below the normal cost of living threshold, or almost two-thirds of all working people in the country.