World Bank keeps its forecast for Bulgaria's economic growth unchanged

Following growth of 3.1% in 2025, the World Bank expects Bulgaria’s GDP to increase by 2.6% in both 2026 and 2027, with growth accelerating slightly to 2.7% in 2028.

Compared with its spring forecast, the estimate for 2026 remains unchanged, while the projection for 2027 has been revised down from 2.9% to 2.6%.

Strong domestic demand, supported by rising real wages, expanding credit and a loosening of fiscal policy, has sustained economic activity in Bulgaria, but at the same time has accelerated inflation and significantly widened the budget deficit, the report says.

The World Bank forecasts that the deficit will rise to 5.3% of GDP in 2026, up from 3% in 2025. The main factors cited are the rapid increase in social spending, higher municipal investment and increased energy subsidies.

Expected fiscal tightening and slower growth in real wages will limit economic growth to around 2.6% annually in 2027-2028, the institution forecasts, as cited by BTA.

Edited by Ivo Ivanov