Low-cost Moroccan production threatens Bulgaria’s garment industry

Concern is mounting among workers and professionals in Bulgaria’s garment industry after several companies began reducing their workforce and redirecting production orders to North African countries, with Morocco among the main destinations, Bulgarian media report.

The sector, “once thriving in the northern city of Ruse, Bulgaria, and providing jobs for thousands of families while supplying major international fashion brands, is now at risk of collapse,” according to the same sources.

Industry representatives said Bulgarian firms are struggling to compete with lower production costs in countries like Tunisia, Egypt, Uzbekistan, and Morocco.

They pointed out that while wages and social insurance costs continue to rise in Bulgaria, global brands are increasingly looking for cheaper manufacturing destinations.

In Morocco and Tunisia, the average daily wage of a garment worker is estimated at around $3, a level Bulgarian producers say makes competition nearly impossible, the source stressed.

Quoted by local broadcaster bTV, Miglena Hristova, a member of the board of Bulgaria’s Textile and Leather Association, said that “with wages in Bulgaria still at about 6 leva per day, how are we supposed to pay our employees? There’s no way we can match those prices.”

Bulgarian media reports indicated that over the past six months, around 200 seamstresses in Ruse have lost their jobs following the suspension of operations at several factories, with a new wave of layoffs expected in early 2026 as more companies struggle to sustain production.

The crisis has also claimed historic names in the sector, complained the same source, noting that one of Ruse’s oldest garment factories closed permanently in July after 93 years of continuous operation, leaving 77 workers unemployed and marking what many see as the end of an era for the city’s textile industry.

Bulgaria’s garment industry has become one of the fastest-declining sectors, with textile and clothing exports dropping from over €1.9 billion in 2016 to €1.6 billion in 2024, as more companies move production to countries with cheaper labor.

The number of people working in the sector has also dropped, from about 160,000 a decade ago to around 86,000 today, with some of the biggest factories cutting more than 15% of their staff in just 18 months.