Bulgaria's budget deficit reached 9.122 billion leva in 2025, or 4.0% of gross domestic product. At the same time, state debt rose to 68.057 billion leva, which is equal to 29.9% of GDP, final data from the National Statistical Institute show.
The largest deficit is in the subsector “Central Government“ – 8.891 billion leva, or 3.9% of GDP. “Local Government“ reported a negative result of 223 million leva, and social security funds – deficit of 8 million leva.
The deficit and debt grow for the third consecutive year
In 2023, the deficit was 3.684 billion leva, or 2.0% of GDP. In 2024, it increased to 6.242 billion leva, or 3.0%. Thus, in one year, the negative balance of the "General Government" sector increases by nearly 2.9 billion leva.
The change in debt is even more significant. At the end of 2024, it was 48.851 billion leva, or 23.8% of GDP. For 2025, the increase is nearly 20 billion leva. Compared to 2022, when the liabilities were just over 37.8 billion leva, the growth exceeds 30 billion leva.
Bulgaria's nominal GDP in 2025 reaches 227.949 billion leva. Its increase is not enough to compensate for the faster growth of the state debt as an absolute value.
Final data are higher than preliminary
In April 2026, the NSI published preliminary data, according to which the deficit for 2025 is 4.113 billion euros, or 3.5% of GDP. In the final notification, the amount is already 4.664 billion euros, and the share of GDP - 4.0%. The debt data remains close - 34.797 billion euros, or 29.9% of GDP.
“The statistical information is prepared according to a harmonised EU methodology“, the National Statistical Institute states. It is based on the rules for the excessive deficit and debt procedure and is validated by Eurostat.
The difference between the preliminary and final values is related to the annual update of the data. Member States send preliminary information in the spring, and the final notification tables in the autumn. Eurostat has published a preliminary estimate for Bulgaria of 3.5% deficit and 29.9% government debt for 2025, before the release of the final national data.
Sources: bgnes.bg