Bulgarian pension fund assets exceeded BGN31 billion in 2025

The net assets of pension companies and the funds they manage in Bulgaria exceeded BGN31 billion in 2025. This is shown by preliminary data from the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) published on Wednesday. In one year the total value of all funds – mandatory and voluntary – grew by 16.7%.

The increase is comparable to the annual increase in the broad US S&P 500 index (16%) and Dow Jones IA (13.4%). The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite performed even better last year, growing by over 20%.

But it was not only market conditions that supported the record assets of Bulgarian pension companies. FSC statistics show an increase in gross revenue from insurance contributions, with BGN3.35 billion coming into the system in 2025 from insured persons, which is a 13.5% increase on an annual basis.

Part of the increase comes from administratively raised insurance thresholds but also from the increase in the number of insured persons in the four types of pension funds – they now number 5 126 236, an increase of 60 103, or 1.2%, compared to 2024. It should be noted that people born before 1960, who were not required to contribute 5% of their insurance contribution to private funds, have almost left the labor market. This means that almost everyone is now required to contribute to a second pension.

Performance by fund

The rate of growth in net assets varies by type of pension fund. The fastest growth is in universal pension funds (mandatory by law), which reported a 16.76% increase compared to 2024. Their relative share is also the largest (86.86% of all assets). The growth in occupational and voluntary pension funds is 13.41% and 10.48%, respectively. As a share of total assets, they are 6.40% and 5.42%, respectively. The reported growth of the voluntary pension fund under occupational schemes for the period is 8.12% and its share is 0.06%.

Gross revenues from insurance contributions to universal pension funds registered a growth of 13.43% and to occupational pension funds – 10.60%. The highest growth in revenues from insurance contributions was observed in voluntary pension funds – 18.44%. The voluntary pension fund under occupational schemes reported a 2.35% growth in revenues from insurance contributions.

As of December 31, 2025 44 090 people were receiving payments from the funds, of whom 8 821 were pensioners and 35 269 were persons with deferred payments. They have been insured in universal pension funds and have reached retirement age.

In 2025 BGN19 million was paid out from the funds for making payments for pensions, BGN175.4 million for deferred payments to insured persons and BGN1 million to heirs of pensioners and persons receiving deferred payments, according to data from the Financial Supervision Commission.

The average amount of pensions paid in 2025 is BGN237.87 and the average amount of deferred payments is BGN522.92.

Translated with DeepL.