Business survey in industry, construction, retail trade and service sector - June 2026

In June 2026, the total business climate indicator decreases by 1.3 percentage points in comparison with May (from 17.4% to 16.1%) (Figure 1). A reduction of the indicator is observed in the industry and in construction, while in the retail trade and in service sector an improvement is reported.

Figure 1. Business climate - total

Industry. The composite indicator ‘business climate in industry’ decreases by 2.3 percentage points (from 18.4% to 16.1%) (Figure 2) as a result of the more moderate industrial entrepreneurs’ assessments about the present business situation of the enterprises. At the same time, their forecasts about the production activity over the next 3 months are unfavourable (Figure 3).

Figure 2. Business climate in industry

Figure 3. Expected production activity in industry over the next 3 months

The uncertain economic environment and the shortage of labour continue to be the main problems for the business development, pointed out respectively by 46.9% and 32.4% of the enterprises (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Factors limiting the activity in industry

(Relative share of enterprises)

Regarding the selling prices in the industry, the prevailing part of the managers foresee them to preserve their level over the next 3 months.

Construction. In June, the composite indicator ‘business climate in construction’ drops by 4.9 percentage points (from 16.0% to 11.1%) (Figure 5), which is due to the reserved construction entrepreneurs’ assessments and expectations about the business situation of the enterprises. Their expectations about the construction activity over the next 3 months are also negative (Figure 6).

Figure 5. Business climate in construction

Figure 6. Expected construction activity over the next 3 months

The factors limiting with the most extend the activity of the enterprises remain connected with the uncertain economic environment, the shortage of labour and the costs of materials, as in comparison with the previous month a decrease of their negative impact is observed (Figure 7).

Figure 7. Factors limiting the activity in construction

(Relative share of enterprises)

The majority of the construction entrepreneurs forecast the selling prices to remain unchanged over the next 3 months.

Retail trade. The composite indicator ‘business climate in retail trade’ increases by 1.4 percentage points (from 25.9% to 27.3%) (Figure 8) as a result of the improved retailers’ assessments about the present business situation of the enterprises. Their opinions about the volume of sales over the last 3 months (Figure 9), as well their expectations over the next 3 months are favourable.

Figure 8. Business climate in retail trade

Figure 9. Volume of sales in retail trade over the last 3 months

The main obstacles for the business development continue to be the uncertain economic environment, the competition in the branch and the shortage of labour, although compared to May, a decrease of their negative influence is reported (Figure 10).

Figure 10. Factors limiting the activity in retail trade

(Relative share of enterprises)

Concerning the selling prices, 83.1% of the retailers expect them to preserve their level over the next 3 months.

Service sector^[1]. In June, the composite indicator ‘business climate in service sector’ increases by 1.6 percentage points (from 8.2% to 9.8%) (Figure 11), which is due to the more optimistic managers’ assessments about the present business situation of the enterprises. At the same time, their opinions about both the present and expected demand for services continue to improve (Figure 12).

 ^[1] Excl. trade.

Figure 11. Business climate in service sector

Figure 12. Expected demand in service sector over the next 3 months

The most serious difficulties for the activity of the enterprises remain connected with the uncertain economic environment and the competition in the branch, as in the last month an increase of the negative impact of the factor ‘shortage of labour’ is reported (Figure 13).

Figure 13. Factors limiting the activity in service sector

(Relative share of enterprises)

Concerning the selling prices in the service sector, the managers do not foresee a change over the next 3 months.

Methodological notes

The business surveys in the industry, construction, retail trade and in the service sector gather information about the entrepreneurs’ opinions about the situation and development of their business.

Since May 2002, all business surveys have been co-financed by NSI and the European Commission ( ) according to agreements signed between these two institutions. NSI has undertaken to conduct the surveys according to the Harmonized EU Programme. Any notice or publication of NSI reflects the author’s view, and the Commission is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.

Since July 2010, NSI has started publishing the business surveys data according to the new Classification of Economic Activities (NACE.BG - 2008) (NACE Rev. 2). All of the time series have been recalculated according to the Classification and are comparable throughout time.

The replies to questions from the inquiries are presented in a three-option ordinal scale of the following type: ‘up’, ‘unchanged’, ‘down’ or ‘above normal’, ‘normal’, and ‘below normal’. The balances of assessments are calculated as a difference of the relative shares of extreme variants of answers. The ‘Business climate indicator’ is a geometric mean of balances of assessments of the present business situation and the expected business situation of enterprises in the next 6 months.

The total business climate indicator is a weighted average of four branch business climate indicators in: industry, construction, retail trade and in the service sector. The last indicator of the business climate in the service sector has been included in the total time series since May 2002.