Sofia Investment Agency published its “State of the IT Sector in Sofia 2017” report earlier this month. Listed below are some of the main highlights of the report.
- The IT Sector Accounts for 5.7% of the Sofia Economy, a growth of 50% between 2011 and 2015 from 3.8% to 5.7%. The growth can be explained with the fact that the sector is almost entirely export-oriented.
- Between 2012 and 2015, export revenue of IT sector enterprises in Sofia (defined as income from services offered to foreign clients) grew by 78% to reach 1.2 billion BGN.
- Employment in the IT sector has increased considerably: The total number of employees in the sector grew by 51% between 2011 and 2015, from 26.8 thousand to 40.4 thousand people. One in every 20 employees in Sofia is in a profession connected with IT.
- Both pay and labor productivity have outpaced those in most other sectors, with salaries considerably higher than the country’s average. The average monthly salary in the sector is 2,688 BGN.
- High salaries are the result of the sector’s high productivity: over 57 thousand BGN in value added per employee in programming.
- The unemployment rate in the sector is extremely low – less than 2%.
- The key challenge before the sector is finding qualified workers to ensure continued growth.
Company Demography, Employment and Working Conditions
The number of large companies with over 250 employees grew from 15 to 20 between 2011 and 2015. The total number of people employed in such companies is now over 12 000 people, or an average of 623 employees per company.
Almost as many people were working in the 107 medium-sized companies (50-249 employees) in the sector. A little less than 10 000 people were employed in the 441 small firms (10 to 49 employees).
Micro-companies (up to 9 employees) accounted for 89% of all IT companies in Sofia. The number of micro-companies grew by 55% in 2015 compared with 2011, to reach a total of 4,810 firms. A total of 7,703 people worked in micro-companies in Sofia, or an average of 1.6 people per company.
The total number of employees in the sector grew by 51% between 2011 and 2015, from 26.8 thousand to 40.4 thousand people. The number of people employed in the IT sector makes up 6% of all employed people in the city and 62% of the people employed in the entire ICT sector in Sofia.
Over half the people working in the sector are young, between 25-34 years; another 28% are between 35 and 44.
Remuneration in the IT Sector in Sofia
The sector offers salaries that are above the average for the city and four times the national average.
The average monthly salary in the sector is 2,688 BGN (latest NSI data). The highest paid were senior developers at 3,372 BGN a month in 2015. The lowest paid were web portals employees at 1,306 BGN.
IT Education
In the 2016/17 academic year the number of students in majors connected with informatics, computer science, software, hardware, networks and other digital technologies in Sofia’s universities was slightly over 11 thousand.
Future Trends in the IT Sector in Sofia
There is a reason for optimism: almost all indicators considered show that the sector’s development has been stable in recent years and there are no signs that the positive tendency may change in the near future.
The sector’s biggest challenge is the shortage of qualified people, especially for positions requiring high levels of skill and expertise. The problem exists for most sectors of the economy. Unlike most sectors, however, IT has already demonstrated its ability to create alternative opportunities for training its workers.
A potential risk of the sector is its presumptive orientation to more routine activities within the framework of large international companies rather than the creation of innovative products and services. However, if it manages to cope with those threats, there are no signs that the IT sector will show signs of slowing down in the future.
You can download the full report with detailed data, analysis and graphs here.
If you have further questions regarding the report or other data on the investment climate in Sofia, please contact our team at contact@investsofia.com.
