Bulgaria's economy grew by 1.6 per cent to 76.17 billion leva in 2011, according to a flash estimate by the National Statistics Institute (NSI) released on February 15.

In the fourth quarter of 2011, the economy grew by a quarterly 0.4 per cent and an annual 1.5 per cent to reach 20.45 billion lefva.

The main driver of economic growth were exports, which grew by 10 per cent in annual terms during the fourth quarter of 2011. Imports for the same period were up 3.4 per cent compared to the last quarter of 2010.

The full year tally showed Bulgaria ended the year with a trade surplus of 625 million leva.

Consumption was up 1.4 per cent year-on-year in the last quarter and investment was down 6.5 per cent year-on-year in the same period, NSI said.