Press releases

In April 2025, compared to March 2025, in the production of energy products no increase was observed for any of the products. A decrease was reported in the production of: transport diesel - by 43.9%, solid fuels - by 29.6%, motor gasoline - by 9.1%, and electricity - by 5.0%. The production of petroleum products has significantly decreased during the current month due to carried out planned repairs of production facilities. There was no production of liquefied petroleum gases in April 2025 and no change in the production of natural gas.

Compared to April 2024, an increase was reported in the production of: solid fuels - by 39.2%, and electricity - by 3.3%. A decrease was reported in the production of: motor gasoline - by 93.8%, and transport diesel - by 92.5%. There was no production of liquefied petroleum gases in April 2025 and no change in the production of natural gas.

In April 2025, compared to March 2025 for the deliveries of energy products, an increase was observed only in motor gasoline - by 33.3%. A decrease was reported in the deliveries of: transport diesel - by 55.0%, solid fuels - by 29.4%, natural gas - by 16.1%, electricity - by 8.8%, and liquefied petroleum gases - by 5.4%.

Compared to April 2024, an increase was reported in the deliveries of: solid fuels - by 34.6%, motor gasoline - by 30.2%, electricity - by 11.6%, and natural gas - by 6.8%. A decrease was reported in the deliveries of: transport diesel - by 34.7%, and liquefied petroleum gases - by 2.8%.  

In 2024, the government budget allocations for Research and Development (GBARD) amounted to 483.1 million BGN, which was 15.7% more than the previous year.

The distribution of the government budget allocations for R&D by socio-economic objectives shows that the largest is the share (52.0%) of the state support for research aimed at ‘General advancement of knowledge’, which mainly includes the research carried out by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and by the higher schools.

Detailed data can be found on the NSI website under the heading ‘Government budget allocations for R&D (GBARD) by socio-economic objectives’.

In Bulgaria during 2024, 10 143 books and pamphlets were published, which is with 218 less than the previous year. The highest number was fiction for adults - 3 024 titles, followed by scientific literature - 2 256. The titles of translated publications were 2 598. More than half of them were translated from English (51.3%), followed by the editions from French - 10.2%, Russian - 6.9% and German - 6.1%. The highest number of books and pamphlets being published was in Sofia (stolitsa) district - 6 913, followed by Plovdiv (892) and Varna (451) districts.

In 2024, 178 newspapers were issued, of which 27 - daily newspapers. Compared to the previous year, the newspapers decreased by 2 and the daily newspapers increased by 6. The highest number of newspapers issued was in Sofia (stolitsa) district - 43.3% of all editions. In 2024, were published 434 magazines and 47 bulletins, and in comparison with 2023, the number of magazines increased by 6, and the number of bulletins remains the same.

In May 2025, the number of trips of Bulgarian residents abroad was 878.6 thousand, or 8.7% above the registered in May 2024. An increase in the trips with all observed purposes was registered.

The number of visits of non-residents to Bulgaria was 997.6 thousand, or 0.5% more in comparison with the same month of the previous year. An increase by 8.0% was registered in the trips with holiday and recreation purposes and by 2.0% with professional purposes, while those with other purposes decreased by 5.8%. Transit passes through the country were 30.0% (298.9 thousand) of all visits of non-residents to Bulgaria.

The total producer price index in Services of the business economy increased by 2.7% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the previous quarter and by 5.5% in comparison with the same quarter of 2024.

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

The total export price index during the first quarter of 2025 is 101.6%, which is a 7.2 percentage points increase in the index compared to the same period of the previous year.

The total import price index for the reporting period is 100.8%, which is a 3.2 percentage points increase in the index compared to the same period of the previous year.

Preliminary data on export and import price indices for the first quarter of 2025 by sectors of the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC, rev. 4) are published on the NSI website under the heading 'Exports and imports price indices'.

The main causes of death among the entire population in 2024 were again the diseases of the circulatory system. 60.7% of the deaths were caused by them. The mortality rate was 948.5 per 100 thousand of the population.

In the second place in the structure of the causes of death among the entire population were the neoplasms - 265.8 per 100 thousand of the population, with the intensity being higher among men - 313.7 per 100 thousand men, against 221.5 per 100 thousand women.

Detailed data from the survey are available to all users on the website of NSI in the section ‘Health’ – Deaths by causes and mortality by causes, as well as in IS Infostat.

The housing prices increased by 4.2% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the previous quarter (fourth quarter of 2024). The highest increase was recorded in Ruse (+9.0%), followed by Varna (+5.8%), Stara Zagora (+4.0%) and Plovdiv (+3.7%).

In the first quarter of 2025, compared to the first quarter of 2024, the housing prices rose by 15.1%.

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

In the first quarter of 2025, compared to the first quarter of 2024, the total hourly labour cost rose by 12.4% (according to preliminary data). The total hourly labour cost increased by 14.1% in industry and by 11.8% in services.

In 2024, price levels for household final consumption expenditure differed widely across the 27 EU Member States. The highest price levels for household consumption were recorded in Denmark (143% of the EU average), Ireland (138%) and Luxembourg (133%). Meanwhile, the lowest levels were recorded in Bulgaria (60% of the EU average), Romania (64%) and Poland (72%), according to the provisional estimates for 2024.