Nearly half of Bulgarian companies are family businesses

More than 40% of all Bulgarian companies are family businesses, according to a new study by the country’s national statistics office NSI.

The research shows that out of 370,593 companies in Bulgaria, more than 156,000 are family-owned.

In addition, the study found that in 2010, family businesses in Bulgaria had a turnover of BGN38 billion (€19.4 billion), representing about 20% of the BGN191 billion turnover realised by all Bulgarian companies in the same year.

According to the study, more than 17% of the country’s production is made by family firms that are particularly active in the trade and services sectors, where they represent respectively 43.6% and 37.9% of all the country’s companies.

Around 617,000 Bulgarians are employed in family businesses, equivalent to 28% of the country’s workforce, the research also showed.