BULGARIA IMPLEMENTS THE EUR 2025 RECAP

The top gainers and losers for the year are posted in the bottom left corner.

The last week of 2025 did not have trading days to accommodate for the transition to EUR.

The first trading day is 5 January 2026.

ü  Bulgaria’s business climate in industry fell to 12.5 in December 2025 from 14.6 in November, the lowest since December 2020. Current production activity turned negative (-2.9 vs 1.6), while total orders remained weak (-15.3 vs -15.7), with domestic (-20.3 vs -19.3) and foreign demand (-27.7 vs -23.6) both declining. Stocks of finished goods also fell (-2.5 vs -0.8). Industrial confidence softened (-1.3 vs -3.1%), and employment outlook moderated (1.2 vs 2.1), with six-month business expectations easing (10.6 vs 12.2). On the positive side, production expectations for the next three months improved (9.0 vs 5.6), and selling prices are expected to rise (14.8 vs 10.8). Main obstacles remain the uncertain economic environment (50.5 vs 45.6) and labor shortages (34.8 vs 33.6), while fewer firms reported no difficulties (12.8 vs 14.4).

ü  Producer prices in Bulgaria rose by 12% year-on-year in November 2025, slowing from a 13.5% increase in the previous month. Price growth moderated mainly for electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply (29.9% vs 40.2% in October) and mining and quarrying (16.4% vs 16.8%), particularly for coal and lignite and other mining and quarrying. On the other hand, costs increased at a faster pace in the manufacturing sector (10.8% vs 10%), driven by higher prices for chemical and chemical products and basic metals. On a monthly basis, producer prices grew by 1.6% in November, easing from a 3.2% advance in the preceding period.

ü  The number of tourist arrivals in Bulgaria rose by 2.9% year-on-year to 732.8 thousand in November 2025, following a 0.4% growth in October. An increase in the trips with all observed purposes was registered, with other purposes accounting for the largest share (49.4%), followed by holiday and recreation purposes (31.1%), and professional purposes (19.5%). Visitors from the EU accounted 49.8% of total visits to Bulgaria, reaching 365.1 thousand, led by Romania (43.4%), Greece (25.4%), Germany (7.60%), and Italy (4.94%). Meanwhile, travelers from other European countries represented 42.4% of the total, reaching 310.7 thousand, mainly coming from Turkey (52.3%), followed by Serbia (18.9%), Ukraine (15%), and Macedonia (9.6%).