The growth in Bulgaria’s outsourcing sector is set to lead to an increase of 18,400 new jobs within the sector over the next three years, according to an annual report from the Bulgarian Outsourcing Association.

The report said that the outsourcing sector makes up 2.4% of the labour market in Bulgaria with 60,600 full-time employees. By 2021, the number of full time employees in outsourcing will exceed 79,000.

In 2017, outsourcing contributed 4.8% to Bulgaria’s GDP, or €2.1 billon. By 2021 its turnover will almost double both in value to €4.0 billion and its market share in the economy will grow to 7.9%.

Bulgaria’s outsourcing industry grew substantially faster than the national economy in 2017. The report added that Bulgaria is one of the world’s leading destinations for BPO and ITO outsourcing services.

The Association’s study analysed data from 477 Bulgarian companies engaged in business process outsourcing (BPO) and information technology outsourcing (ITO).

According to data from Eurostat, the unemployment rate in Bulgaria stood at 5.3% in September.