Bulgaria joined the EU having nearly a million citizens living below the poverty line and a 20 per cent grey economy.

Between 14.2 and 14.8 per cent of the Bulgarians lived below the poverty line, National Statistical Institute (NSI) head Aleksandar Hadzhiiski said.

NSI used EU methods to determine the percentage, Hadzhiiski said as quoted by mediapool.bg. Expenditure of each family member was used to make the calculations.

Expert evaluations showed that nearly 20 per cent of the Bulgarian economy was grey. Comparisons of customs declarations showed cases in which millions of dollars had been imported or exported from Bulgaria and had practically disappeared.

The grey economy percentage in developed EU member states was two to three times lower than the one in Bulgaria, the analysis showed.

Hadzhiiski said that in 2008 NSI would start calculating national and EU inflation indices.

Bulgaria would also introduce online inflation calculator, as the one introduced in the UK, Hadzhiiski said.