 Bulgaria has an emerging market economy in the upper middle income range , where the private sector accounts for more than 80 per cent of GDP . From a largely agricultural country with a predominantly rural population in 1948 , by the 1980s Bulgaria had transformed into an industrial economy with scientific and technological research at the top of its budgetary expenditure priorities . The loss of COMECON markets in 1990 and the subsequent " shock therapy " of the planned system caused a steep decline in industrial and agricultural production , ultimately followed by an economic collapse in 1997 . The economy largely recovered during a period of rapid growth several years later , but the average salary remains one of the lowest in the EU at 952 leva ( € 488 ) per month in March 2016 . More than a fifth of the labour force are employed on a minimum wage of € 1 per hour . Wages , however , account for only half of the total household income , owing to the substantial informal economy which amounts to almost 32 % of GDP . Bulgarian PPS GDP per capita stood at 47 per cent of the EU average in 2014 according to Eurostat data , while the cost of living was 48 per cent of the average . The currency is the lev , which is pegged to the euro at a rate of 1 @.@ <unk> <unk> for 1 euro . Bulgaria is not part of the eurozone and has abandoned its plans to adopt the euro . 
