KEY HIGHLIGHTS
In 2019, sourcing contributed 5.5% to Bulgaria's real GDP, or EUR 2.9 bln. The industry is growing considerably faster than the national economy and by 2022 its turnover is expected to expand both in terms of value and as a share of the economy, to EUR 4.7 billion and 8.9%, respectively. The Bulgarian sourcing providers performed impressively as the industry's growth rate in 2019 reached 19.6%, almost matching the 20.5% forecasted in the last year's edition of our report.

LABOR MARKET
The sourcing industry employed a total of 77,987 fulltime employees (FTEs) in 2019.
By 2022, the number of FTEs is expected to exceed 110,000. BPO continued to account
for the majority of the employment in the industry, or 67.0% of the total FTEs in 2019.

SALARIES AND TAXES
Sourcing companies further increased their salary expenses in 2019 and accounted for 9.3% of the total salary costs in Bulgaria, up from 8.5% a year ago. The industry's social security contributions followed the trend, accounting for 7.4% of the national total versus
7.0% a year earlier.

OPERATIONAL INCOMES
In 2019, the industry's operating revenue continued to grow at a stable rate of 19.6%, compared with 20.3% in 2018, as a consequence of untapped potential and the аccelerating transition towards more complicated knowledge-intensive and value-added activities. Forecasts based on the compound annual growth rate in the period 2015-2019 show a continuous rise in company numbers and aggregate revenue by 2022.