• Fish catch per year: 8140 tonnes
• Oil production and reserves: 682 b/d (15m barrels)
• Estimated livestock resources: 1.73m sheep, 1m pigs, 900,000 goats, 18m chickens
• Main mineral resources: Coal, iron, copper, lead, zinc, natural gas, oil, manganese

Electricity generation

Improvements in the production of coal – Bulgaria's chief fossil fuel – and the increasing efficiency of the Kozloduy nuclear power plant have made Bulgaria a major regional energy exporter.

The EU is providing aid to upgrade two nuclear reactors at Kozloduy, in return for the closure of old reactors there which pose particular safety risks. A new plant north of Pleven is planned to open in 2008. Bulgaria's strategic position between the rest of Europe and oil-producers in Russia and the Middle East has raised the possibility of lucrative deals for oil and gas transit, particularly as it can offer routes which avoid the relatively precarious Bosphorus. HEP, produced primarily by the Belmekan–Sestrimo facility in the Rila Mountains, is diminishing in importance.

Consumption and spending

The benefits of economic growth have not been evenly distributed. Pockets of serious poverty remain in rural areas and among ethnic minorities, notably the Roma, and the unemployed.

• Total number of visitors per year: 4.05m visitors
• Tourism trend: Up 18% in 2003

Main tourist arrivals

The tourist industry formerly catered for the east European mass market. Western tourists are attracted by low prices for skiing and beach vacations. Bulgaria is now privatizing the industry and seeks to move it upmarket by stressing the country's heritage. Since the mid-1990s a slump in earnings has been reversed: Russians are returning in larger numbers and there are more tours from western Europe, especially from Germany.