Bulgaria's economic growth accelerated to its fastest pace in three years in the second quarter, driven by consumption, investment and agriculture, Bloomberg reported.

The 40 billion-dollar economy of the country expanded 7.1%, from 7% in the first three months, the statistics office in Sofia said at a news conference today.

Bulgaria, the European Union's poorest member with a per capita gross domestic product that is 37% of the EU average, is counting on investment and economic growth to help raise living standards in the former communist country. A lending boom extending over the past three years spurred consumption and investment.

Agricultural output rose 6.7% in the second quarter, after a 1.6-percent decline in the previous quarter and a 36.4-percent drop in the fourth quarter, data showed. Services were up 5.8% after an 8.3-percent increase, while industrial output gained 8.4% in the second quarter from 7.7%.

Bulgaria ships about 65% of its exports to major economies in the EU. The euro-area's economy contracted 0.2% in the second quarter from the first as faltering sales undermined investment by companies and soaring costs eroded consumers' spending power.

Bulgarian import growth more than doubled to 13.7% from 5.8%, while exports began to show the impact of the slowing EU economy, rising 5.1% in the second quarter after a 9.2-percent increase in the previous three months, the statistics office said.

Economic growth will be between 6.2% and 6.5% this year, buoyed by a rebound in the harvest this year after unfavorable weather conditions devastated crops in 2007, Bulgarian Economy Minister Petar Dimitrov said on August 8.

End-user individual consumption growth was 5.3%, down from 5.7% in the previous quarter. Public consumption fell 0.3% after a 5.8-percent decline in the first quarter, according to the statistics office.