The average value of an unserviced debt in Bulgaria has increased by 50% on a yearly basis, data from the Association of Collection Agencies in Bulgaria (ACABG) shows.
Annual data published by the association reveals the figure was BGN 747 (EUR 381.7) in 2015, up from BGN 485 (EUR 247), in a country where the average monthly wage is below BGN 1000 in most sectors of the economy.
The association’s statistics are based on an Ipsos Bulgaria survey which includes processed information about unserviced debt submitted by all 16 ACABG members which make up for three-quarters of the market.
The rise in average value “affects the total volume of debts assigned to collectors for 2015 – [it was] BGN 1.96 B, compared to BGN 1.43 B for 2014,” Money.bg quotes Milena Videnova, ACABG Deputy Chair, as saying.
Against this backdrop, the number of debtors did not increase in 2014, but dropped instead, Videnova has noted.
It is mostly debts to banks that drive the increase in overall unserviced debt, according to the association.