Unveiling the Resilience of Creative Business: navigating the impact and recovery path of COVID-19 in Bulgaria

The primary objective of the current research is to identify the impact that COVID-19 had on the Creative Business in Bulgaria and their first steps for recovery from the crisis. Our research is based on official and reliable Bulgarian National Statistical Insti-tute data. Based on the number of employed persons, the sectors most affected by COVID-19 in the creative business are sound recording and music publishing, photography, and advertising. For the period 2017-2022, there has been a slowdown in the growth rate of gross wages in the creative industries. This slowdown is most noticeable in 2019 and mainly in 2020, followed by a smooth and gradual recovery. At the same time, creative business companies in Bulgaria received the most extensive support in terms of public funding in 2020. The most generously supported sectors in 2020 within the Creative Industries are Advertising, followed by the Production and distribution of films and television shows and Computer Programming. The Creative Business companies in Bulgaria demonstrated relatively good sustainability and adaptability during and after the COVID-19 crisis. The rates in profit change confirm the serious negative impact of the pandemic (results in 2019 and 2020). Still, at the same time, it reveals a good level of resilience and recovery of the companies (results for 2021 and 2022).