Bulgarian Economy Grows 3.4% in Q1 y/y

The Bulgarian economy expanded by 3,4% in the first quarter of the year on an annual basis, revised data of the statistics office showed on Wednesday, well above the flash data published a month ago.

On quarterly basis, the emerging economy expanded 0.6% from January through March.

According to flash data of the statistics office from the middle of May the Bulgarian economy expanded by 2.5% in the first quarter on an annual basis.

The country's gross domestic product grew by 0.4% quarter-on-quarter, following a 0.5% expansion in the previous quarter, downwardly revised from 2.1%, according to the flash data.

The data, which marks the first considerable increase in economic growth since the country plunged into a recession, overshoots analysts' forecasts, which set the GDP growth levels at about 1.5%.

The economy expanded on an annual basis for the second straight quarter.

The government expects an export-led recovery to push up growth to 3.6% this year.