Despite the COVID-19 crisis, the software sector has seen revenue growth of 10% this year amid a 5.5% drop in the country's GDP, according to data from the Bulgarian Association of Software Companies (BASCOM). Compared to the previous year, revenue growth is lower / 18.4% in 2019 compared to 2018 /, but it is still very good against the background of the severe economic consequences of the global pandemic. The expectations are for sustainable double-digit growth for each of the following years until 2024 (14-19%), which makes the software sector one of the fastest growing in the country, commented Dimitar Ganev, partner in the software company "E-CARD" , which is in the top 50 of Europe.
The revenues of the software sector as a percentage of GDP will be 3.3% in 2019, and in 2020 are expected to reach 3.8%. According to BASSCOM forecasts, in 2024 this share is expected to almost double compared to the current level and reach 6%. The data also reveals that employees in the sector pay three times more taxes and social security contributions to the budget than the national average. BGN 1.5 billion in the form of direct and indirect taxes can enter the state budget from the software industry in 2024, and currently one employee in the sector generates for the budget more than BGN 22,400 in the form of taxes and Social security.
The additional nearly BGN 625 million in the budget compared to BGN 750 million in 2019 will be generated by the newly created over 23 thousand jobs in the next 5 years (2020-2024).
The data shows the huge potential of the software industry in Bulgaria, which can become the engine of the Bulgarian economy, said Dimitar Ganev. To this end, the state and business must focus on education and the acquisition of new staff and specialists. According to him, the state admission for technological specialties in higher education should be increased. Also to stimulate programs for training and retraining of people, stressed Dimitar Ganev from E-CARD.
The opportunities for development of young people in the software sector in Bulgaria continue to be very attractive. Jobs increased by more than 3,500 in 2020, but employment growth in the sector is slowing down, reaching the lowest level in ten years in 2020. About 35% of those employed in the sector arewomen, which ranks Bulgaria first in the EU in this indicator with more than twice the EU average. There is also a new trend - many of the new employees in the software companies are Bulgarians who have returned from abroad, and in some companies they reach 10% of the total number of employees.
The average wage increase in 2020 maintains the expected growth of approximately 4%, as the sector continues to pay wages that are more than three times higher than the average in other sectors of the economy. The tendency of software companies to work mainly for foreign markets also continues. The export value for 2020 is expected to increase by a new 12% and reach BGN 3.5 billion compared to 2019, when the growth of export revenues was 20% on an annual basis, reaching BGN 3.1 billion.