Press releases

Expenditure on tourist trips of persons 15 years and over in 2024 was estimated at 4 045.6 million BGN and increased by 18.8% in comparison to 2023. Those made in the country amounted to 2 221.5 million BGN, and abroad - 1 824.1 million BGN.

Expenditure for private trips represented 96.2% (including tourist packages) and increased by 18.7% compared to 2023, while those for professional travel were 3.8% of all expenses and increased by 19.7%.

Detailed data can be found on the NSI website under the heading 'Tourism'.

In the period July - December 2024, the electricity prices, including all taxes, levies and VAT (incl. state compensations) for non-household customers increased compared to the period January - June 2024. The largest increase - by 42.5%, is recorded in group I7 with annual consumption over 150 000 MWh.

In the same period, a slight increase in the electricity prices, including all taxes, levies and VAT was observed for households customers too. The highest rise - by 2.7%, is recorded in the biggest households customers in group D5 with annual consumption over 15 000 kWh.

On annual basis in 2024, compared to the previous year 2023, the prices with all taxes, levies and VAT (including state compensations) for non-households customers decreased for all groups. The largest decrease of over 16% was registered in group I1 with annual consumption up to 20 MWh and group I5 with annual consumption between 20 000 and 70 000 MWh.

For household customers, on an annual basis, electricity prices including all taxes, fees and VAT increased compared to the previous year, with the largest increase - 3.4%, recorded in group D2 with annual consumption between 1 000 and 2 500 kWh.

Changes in the final electricity prices for non-household customers are a result of the price situation on the free energy market. For household customers, the changes are determined by the regulated electricity market and by the yearly defined prices for electricity on a daily and nightly scale (component ‘Energy and Supply’) and prices for transmission and access through the electricity transmission and distribution networks (component ‘Network’) by the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission.

Data are representative for the country - all suppliers of electricity provide data on household and final non-household customers, for the quantities delivered through transmission/distribution network. They are calculated as weighted average prices by the actual delivered quantities of electricity and the corresponding invoiced values to final customers, by standard annual consumption bands, for the observed six-month period in the following two directions:

• By levels of taxation - data are reported twice per year, for the periods January to June and July to December;
• By components and sub-components - data are collected every semester, but are reported annually as arithmetic average prices.

The information is published pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2016/1952 on European statistics on natural gas and electricity prices.

Detailed data on electricity and natural gas prices are published on the NSI website under the heading ‘Energy’.

In the period July - December 2024, the natural gas prices, including all taxes, levies and VAT for non-household customers increased slightly compared to the period January - July 2024. The largest increase - by 3%, is recorded in group I3 with annual consumption between 10 000 GJ and 100 000 GJ.

In the same period, an increase is also observed for the natural gas prices, including all taxes, levies and VAT for all groups of household customers. The largest increase - by 6.2%, is recorded for the smallest consumers in group D1 with annual consumption up to 20 GJ.

On annual basis in 2024, compared to the previous year 2023, the natural gas prices with all taxes, levies and VAT for non-household customers decrease by more than 20% for all groups. The largest decrease - by 23.1%, is registered in group I4 with annual consumption between 100 000 GJ and 1 000 000 GJ.

For the household customers, on annual basis in 2024 compared to 2023, a decrease by an average of over 19% is observed for the natural gas prices, including all taxes, levies and VAT for all groups. The largest decrease by 21.1% is registered for the biggest consumers in group D3 with annual consumption over 200 GJ, and for group D2 with annual consumption from 20 GJ to 200 GJ, which includes the majority of household consumers, the decrease is 19.8%.

The main reason for the annual price reduction for all groups and types of end customers is a decrease in the price of natural gas - by an average of 30%. This price is part of the ‘Energy and Supply’ component and constitutes about 60% of the final price of natural gas for the consumers. An additional factor is the average decrease by 20% in the price for transmission and access (including capacity) on the gas transmission network, which is part of the ‘Network’ component.

Data are representative for the country - all suppliers of natural gas provide data on household and final non-household customers, for the quantities delivered through gas transmission/gas distribution network. They are calculated as weighted average prices by the actual delivered quantities of natural gas and the corresponding invoiced values to final customers, by standard annual consumption bands, for the observed six-month period in the following two directions:

• By levels of taxation - data are reported twice per year, for the periods January to June and July to December;
• By components and sub-components - data are collected every semester, but are reported annually as arithmetic average prices.

The information is published pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2016/1952 on European statistics on natural gas and electricity prices.

Detailed data on electricity and natural gas prices are published on the NSI website under the heading ‘Energy’.

In March 2025, the total business climate indicator decreases by 0.5 percentage points in comparison with February, as а decrease of the indicator is registered only in the industry.

The most serious difficulties for the business development in the sectors continue to be connected with the uncertain economic environment, shortage of labour, competition in the branch and insufficient demand.

The Total Producer Price Index in Industry rose by 2.8% in February 2025 compared to the previous month. An increase of 6.5% was registered in the mining and quarrying industry, and in the manufacturing industry - by 4.2%. A decrease was observed in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply - by 1.2%.

The Producer Price Index on the Domestic Market went up by 2.5% in February 2025 compared to January 2025. The domestic prices grew in the mining and quarrying industry - by 6.5%, and in the manufacturing industry - by 5.4%, while in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply was reported a decrease by 1.6%.

The Total Producer Price Index rose by 16.2% in February 2025 compared to the same month in 2024. An increase was observed in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply - by 42.6%, in the mining and quarrying industry - by 30.0%, as well as in the manufacturing industry - by 11.4%.

The Producer Price Index on the Domestic Market increased by 19.1% compared to February 2024. The prices rose in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply - by 49.1%, in the mining and quarrying industry - by 21.9%, and in the manufacturing industry - by 11.1%.

In February 2025, the number of trips of Bulgarian residents abroad was 538.2 thousand, or 7.8% above the registered in February 2024. An increase in the trips with all observed purposes was registered.

The number of visits of non-residents to Bulgaria was 720.6 thousand, or 3.1% more in comparison with the same month of the previous year. An increase in the trips with all observed purposes was registered. Transit passes through the country were 29.6% (213.3 thousand) of all visits of non-residents to Bulgaria.

The total producer price index in Services of the business economy increased by 0.9% in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to the previous quarter and by 4.4% in comparison with the same quarter of 2023.

Detailed data can be found on the NSI website under the heading ‘Short-term Business Statistics’.

In 2024, Luxembourg and Ireland recorded the highest level of GDP per capita in the EU, at 141% and 111% above the EU average. Bulgaria was the Member State with the lowest GDP per capita, at 34% below the EU average.

At the end of the fourth quarter of 2024, the number of job vacancies, according to data from the National Statistical Institute (NSI), was 16.8 thousand, increasing by 4.7% compared to the fourth quarter of 2023. The job vacancy rate (the proportion of the number of job vacancies to the total sum of number of occupied posts and the number of vacancies) was 0.7%.

Detailed data can be found on the NSI website under the heading 'Labour Market'.

The housing prices increased by 2.7% in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to the previous quarter (third quarter of 2024). The highest increase was recorded in Ruse (+8.0%), followed by Plovdiv (+5.9%), Varna (+5.1%) and Stara Zagora (+4.5%).

In the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, housing prices rose by 18.3%.

Detailed data are published on NSI’s website under the heading 'Housing price statistics'.