The average annual salary in Bulgarian in 2006 was 4322 leva (2161 euro), National Statistical Institute (NSI) data showed.

Annual salaries in state and municipal owned companies and administration reached an average of 5292 leva, while employees in the private sector received an average of 3916 leva, investor.bg said.

Financial mediators and gas, electricity and water supply sector employees received the highest annual salaries in 2006, respectively 9830 and 7774 leva.

The lowest salaries were paid in the hotel business, agriculture, forestry and hunting sectors, 3046 leva.

According to the statistics, the average payment for an hour of work was 3.31 leva. In state owned companies it was 4.37 leva, while in the private sector it was 2.88 leva.

Some 2.27 million people worked under labour contracts in 2006, nearly half of them in the private sector.