Bulgaria Current Account Deficit Widens to 16-Year High

Bulgaria’s current account deficit widened sharply to EUR 729.4 million in January 2026 from EUR 29.3 million in the same month a year earlier. The goods account deficit widened to EUR -879.4 million from EUR -869.2 million. At the same time, the services surplus narrowed to EUR 575.5 million from EUR 602.4 million, while the primary income balance, which reflects the receipt and payment of income related to the use of resources, such as labour, capital, land, taxes of production and imports and subsidies, shifted to a deficit of EUR 514.6 million, compared with a surplus of EUR 242.1 million a year earlier. In contrast, the secondary income account recorded a surplus of EUR 89.1 million, reversing a deficit of EUR 4.5 million.

Bulgaria’s current account deficit widened to EUR 1,409.5 million in December 2025 from EUR 607.6 billion in the same month last year. This was the largest trade deficit since records began in 1998, due to wider deficits in goods (EUR -1,290.9 million vs EUR -723.3 million in December 2024) and primary income (EUR -755.2 million vs EUR -639.4 million). In addition, the services surplus narrowed to EUR 405.0 million from EUR 661.8 million in the previous year. Conversely, the secondary income surplus rose to EUR 231.5 million from EUR 93.2 million a year ago. For 2025 as a whole, Bulgaria’s trade deficit expanded sharply to EUR 6,874.3 million from EUR 1,416.0 million in 2024.

Bulgaria recorded a current account deficit of EUR 1,114 million in November 2025, more than doubled from EUR 415.7 million in the corresponding month of the previous year. This marked the largest deficit since records began in January 1998, mainly due to a much wider gap in the goods account, which rose to EUR 1,059.8 million from EUR 782.3 million in November 2024. At the same time, the shortfall in net primary income, which reflects the receipt and payment of income related to the use of resources, such as labour, capital, land, taxes of production and imports and subsidies, expanded to EUR 717.6 million from EUR 345.5 million, while the surplus in net secondary income, which reflects the redistribution of income, narrowed sharply to EUR 39.4 million from EUR 101 million. On the other hand, the services account surplus widened to EUR 624.1 million from EUR 611.2 million a year ago.