By February 2010, not even the most adamant former supporters of the idea that Bulgaria would prove "an island of stability" as the global downturn reached Eastern Europe can plausibly deny that the economic crisis has taken its toll on Bulgarians.

According to National Statistical Institute (NSI) data, the average monthly income of Bulgarians decreased by 11.9 per cent in December 2009 – the latest data available – compared to the same month of 2008.

On average, Bulgarians’s income in December 2009 was 331.63 leva. Salaries and pensions remain the most important sources of income for the average household, accounting for 76.9 per cent of the total, compared to a share of 74.6 per cent a year earlier.

Other income categories – self-employment, property revenue and other sources – also have recorded an increase, but that came at the expense of state-paid social benefits, which shrunk from 15.5 per cent of the total in December 2008 to 3.9 per cent in December 2009.

Bulgarians also spent less, but the decrease was not as drastic – a drop of 3.4 per cent to 311.46 leva. Their spending habits remained largely unchanged, with foodstuffs, alcoholic beverages and tobacco products remaining the single largest category in household budgets, accounting for 40.8 per cent of the total (versus 41.2 per cent in December 2008). Bulgarians actually ate more meat, eggs, milk, fruits and vegetables, but consumed less bread and oil, NSI said.

As a share of the total, utility bills and home maintenance rose to 16 per cent (versus 15.7 per cent in December 2008), spending on transport fell to 9.4 per cent (versus 10.1 per cent a year earlier), while health care spending increased to 5.1 per cent from 4.3 per cent.

Widespread effect
About 58 per cent of the respondents in a survey by Bulgarian market research firm Pragmatica said that they saw their disposable incomes shrink in 2009. Only 4.8 per cent of the respondents said that their incomes increased in 2009.

A third of the respondents said that they had to cut on their utility and food bills, although such spending could not be curtailed overly much. The first items to see spending cuts were going out, holidays and clothes, according to Pragmatica’s figures. At the start of 2009, when Pragmatica carried out its first survey on the impact of the economic crisis on consumer trends in Bulgaria, 51 per cent of its respondents said that they planned to holiday at the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. Only 35.5 per cent of the respondents in the 2010 survey said that they did take a holiday at the Bulgarian Black Sea in 2009.

Restaurants and pizzerias should expect a decline in custom, with 36.8 and 34.8 per cent of respondents, respectively, saying that they planned to visit less frequently. Mehanas, fast food and confectionery shops could expect smaller falls, while coffee shops would be least affected, with 61.5 per cent of the respondents saying that they would not cut back on visits.

In other categories, such as personal care and cleaning products, the cuts were achieved by switching to cheaper products. Pragmatica’s survey only covered urban areas with more than 25 000 residents and had 800 respondents.