Publishing activity - 2025

The National Statistical Institute annually publishes data for issued books and pamphlets, continued editions (newspapers, magazines and periodicals) and electronic publications. Source of information is the ‘St. St. Cyril and Methodius’ National Library.

Published books and pamphlets

In 2025 were published 8 939 books with a circulation of 4 438 491 and 1 328 pamphlets with a circulation of 874 035 (Table 1).

Table 1. Published books and pamphlets in 2025

With the unique identification code ISBN (International Standard Book Number), in 2025, 8 644 books and 1 230 pamphlets were registered, or 96.2% of all editions. Compared to the previous year, in 2025, the number of published books and pamphlets increased by 124, or by 1.2% (Figure 1).

By thematic areas according to the characteristic ‘Purpose of the literature’¹ the distribution of editions in 2025 was as follows (Figure 2):

• Fiction for adults - 2 743 titles with a circulation of 1 136 thousand;
• Scientific literature - 2 663 titles with a circulation of 389 thousand;
• Popular literature - 2 066 titles with a circulation of 1 005 thousand;
• Educational literature - 1 325 titles with a circulation of 1 753 thousand;
• Literature for children and juveniles - 1 160 titles with a circulation of 913 thousand, of which 723 titles were fiction literature for children with a circulation of 528 thousand;
• Other - 310 titles with a circulation of 116 thousand.

In 2025, the titles published in the original language in which they were written (including in Bulgarian) were 9 287, or 90.5% of the total number of published books and pamphlets.

The titles of translated publications were 980, with a circulation of 354 thousand, of which 36.1% were translated from English, followed by the editions from Russian - 9.8%, French - 7.9%, and German - 4.9%.

The highest number of books and pamphlets being published was in Sofia (stolitsa) district - 6 527, followed by Plovdiv (876) and Varna (519) districts (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Books and pamphlets published (titles and circulation) by districts in 2025

Continuing editions being issued (newspapers and periodicals)

In 2025, 167 newspapers with an annual circulation of 88 501 thousand were published, and compared to the previous year, the number of titles decreased by 11 (Figure 4).

According to the periodicity of publication, the distribution of titles was as follows (Figure 5):

• Issued once a week - 76 newspapers;
• Issued less than once a week - 65 newspapers;
• Daily newspapers - 19 newspapers;
• Issued 2-3 times a week - 7 newspapers.

In 2025, the highest number of newspapers being published was in Sofia (stolitsa) district - 73 titles, or 43.7% of all titles being published in the country (Figure 6).

Figure 6. Newspapers being published (titles and circulation) by districts in 2025

In 2025, 477 magazines and 48 bulletins were published, and compared to 2024, the number of magazines increased by 9.9%, and the number of bulletins by 2.1%.

In 2025, were being published 86 magazines and bulletins in foreign languages. The highest number of them were in English - 74 titles with a circulation of 115 thousand, followed by 3 editions in Romanian.

In 2025, 153 periodic collections with a circulation of 16 thousand were also published, and compared to the previous year, their number increased by 15 and their circulation decreased by 43.4%.

 ^[1] Classification for distribution of books and pamphlets.    

Methodological notes

The survey of publishing activity is annual and covers the activity of public and private publishers and editorials. Data are provided to the NSI by the ‘St. St. Cyril and Methodius’ National Library (all deposited publications for the year). The number of books and pamphlets does not include publications with close departmental purpose, with temporary and advertising character and content less than four pages.

Pamphlet is a non-periodical printed publication with at least five but not more than 48 pages, published in the country and made available to the public.

Book is a non-periodical issued printed document with at least 49 pages, published in the country and made available to the public.

Title - a word or set of words, usually marked on the document, for using identification and often (but not always) distinguishing it from other documents.

Volume - a physical unit of a printed document that contains a fixed number of pages bound together in one and represents a whole or part of a set.

Circulation is the total number of publications, printed from a single title.

Continuing edition (serial) - document in print or non-print form, issued in successive parts, usually having numerical or chronological designations, and intended to be continued indefinitely, whatever its periodicity.

New classification group for continuing editions - ‘Purpose of the literature’ has been applied since 2012.

Newspaper is a publication which contains news for current events of specific or general interests, the individual parts of which are listed chronologically or numerically and appear usually at least once per week.

Magazine is a serial, which is published under the same title at regular or irregular intervals, over an indefinite period; individual publications are consecutively numbered or dated.

Bulletin is a publication (in the form of a pamphlets or leaflet) which contains short formal and official materials (legal, information) related to the activities of the organization, which publishes it.

Periodical is a publication which contains research articles, reports and others and it is published usually on behalf of the scientific institution.

Official publications - reports and annual accounts of ministries, agencies and other state institutions.

Annual circulation of the periodical is the total number of copies of all appearances of one title per year.

Single circulation is the average circulation of circulations of all appearances of one title per year.