In the third quarter of 2009 the ready-to-wear industry shrank its output by 24.1 per cent while imports in the sector contracted by 29 per cent and exports by 15.3 per cent, according to an analysis on the development of
this sector by the Sofia Stock Exchange.

The contraction in January-September 2009 was 26.8 per cent for production, 25 per cent for imports and 21.6 per cent for export.

The bulk of the output was under tolling agreements and sales on the domestic market were small. For the companies covered by this analysis, they were a mere 1.7 per cent of all output in the third quarter.