Employment in Bulgarian Industry (as of 1907)
The available data from December 31, 1907, gives a clear picture of how many people were employed in various industries across Bulgaria. This information shows both the number of men and women employed, as well as the average number of workers per factory.
Distribution of Workers by Industry
Industry Factories Men Women Total % of Total Workers Average per Factory
Textiles 51 1,178 1,565 2,743 44.61% 54
Mining 3 1,347 — 1,347 21.91% 449
Food & Brewing 57 877 106 983 15.99% 17
Metallurgical 8 338 — 338 5.87% 30
Leather 13 237 — 237 3.85% 18
Chemicals 15 128 65 193 3.14% 13
Furniture 8 185 — 185 3.01% 23
Ceramics 6 170 — 170 2.76% 28
Paper 1 20 2 22 0.36% 22
Miscellaneous 4 31 — 31 0.50% 8
Total 166 4,411 1,738 6,149 100% 37
This table shows that textiles were the largest source of employment, with nearly 45% of all industrial workers, followed by mining, which employed over 1,300 men, and food and brewing, which came third Private Sofia Tours.
Size and Workforce of Factories
The size of the factories varied greatly, as shown below:
Number of Workers Factories % of Total Men Women Total Workers % of All Workers
None employed 10 6.02 — — — —
Fewer than 5 17 10.24 47 4 51 0.83
5–9 28 16.87 189 15 204 3.32
10–19 45 27.11 568 66 634 10.31
20–29 23 13.86 406 143 549 8.93
30–49 18 10.87 508 171 679 11.04
50–99 15 9.04 763 297 1,060 17.24
100–499 9 5.42 659 1,042 1,701 27.66
Over 1,000 1 0.60 1,271 — 1,271 20.67
Total 166 100% 4,411 1,738 6,149 100%
Most factories were small to medium-sized. Only one large factory employed over 1,000 people, while the majority had fewer than 100. This shows that Bulgarian industry at the time was still developing and relied mainly on small-scale enterprises.
Use of Mechanical Power in Factories
Out of the 166 factories, only 117 used mechanical power. The different types of machinery and their total power output are listed below:
Type of Motor Number Horsepower % of Total
Fixed Steam Engines 86 5,049 56.25%
Turbines 21 2,523 28.11%
Locomotives 34 675.50 7.52%
Water Wheels 271 518.12 5.77%
Electric Motors 6 133.25 1.48%
Petrol/Benzine Engines 7 56.00 0.62%
Other Mechanical Motors 6 22.00 0.25%
Total 431 8,976.87 100%
Industrial Power and Progress
The figures above reveal that steam power was the dominant source of industrial energy in Bulgaria at the time, followed by hydraulic turbines. The use of electric motors had only just begun, marking the first steps toward industrial modernization.
These statistics confirm that, by the early 20th century, Bulgaria had built a diverse and growing industrial sector, employing thousands of workers and powered by both traditional and modern machinery. This period marked the beginning of Bulgaria’s transition from a largely agricultural society to an emerging industrial nation.