Regional Foreign Investment Rose in 2020

The impact of the 2020 economic crisis on the investment activity of non-financial enterprises is ambiguous, given that in different parts of the country (sometimes even within a single economic entity) opposing trends can be observed. This week as part of “265 stories about economics” we present the distribution, the role, and the dynamics of foreign direct investment in 2020.

Map 1: Change in foreign direct investment of non-financial enterprises between 2019 and 2020 in %, Source – NSI

 

Interactive version: https://265obshtini.bg/map/212

Given the static nature of this indicator, it is no surprise that the 2020 crisis did not affect much the size of foreign direct investment. It rose to 26.9 billion euros, in comparison to 25.3 billion in 2019. Things look a bit differently on the regional level – out of 121 municipalities where foreign capital can be found (according to the available data from the NSI), 61 experienced a decrease in FDI in 2020. It must be noted, though, that this indicator does not measure the flow of investment throughout the years, but rather its whole annual level, thus it is unsurprising that there was no significant year-on-year change. The positive trend in the foreign direct investment level was mostly due to the increase in Sofia (10.2% for one year). Among the other major local economic centers, those with a considerable rise in FDI were Vratsa (51%), Silistra (32%), Pernik and Kazanlyk (22% each), and Pleven (21%).

Map 2: Total FDI of non-financial enterprises in 2020, millions of Euros, Source – NSI

 

Interactive versionhttps://265obshtini.bg/map/211 

In 2020 the majority of foreign capital in the country was concentrated in Sofia (14 billion Euros), Burgas (2.1 billion Euros), and Plovdiv (1.2 billion euros). Those were the only three municipalities with more than a billion euros worth of FDI. Foreign direct investment was also considerable in Devnya (775 million Euros), which is the leading city in Varna’s industrial periphery, as well as in the Varna itself (611 million Euro), and the energy center Galabovo (667 million Euro). The total number of municipalities with FDI above 100 million Euros was 26, and those with between 10 million and below 100 million euros were 39. 

Map 3: FDI of non-financial enterprises per capita in 2020 in millions of Euros, Source – NSI

 

Interactive version: https://265obshtini.bg/map/21

Taking local populations into account, the most significant investments were in small municipalities with important industries – Devnya (91 000 еuros per capita), Galabovo (60 000 euros per capita), Bozhuristhe (25 euros per capita), Elin Pelin (18 000 euros per capita). Among the large cities the leader was Sofia (10 600 euros per capita), followed by Burgas (10 200 euros per capita), and Plovdiv (3600 euros per capita). Overall, FDI was at its highest in small municipalities, which also happen to be major industrial centers in the peripheries of major cities. 


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