Bulgaria began its first month of membership in the eurozone with a significant slowdown in inflation. Data published on Monday by the National Statistical Institute (NSI) show that the average annual price increase was 3.5%, after the indicator had been steadily above 5% in the last six months of 2025.
The last time inflation was at this level was in April 2025.
The monthly increase, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), was 0.6%. For comparison, the NSI's initial estimates, published at the beginning of the month in the form of flash inflation, showed a monthly level of 0.7% and an annual level of 3.6%. Even then, the chairman of the Institute, Atanas Atanasov, pointed out that the discrepancy between the express calculations and the final results is usually minimal – around 0.1%.
What is becoming most expensive
As Economic.bg has already reported, services were the main driver of inflation last month. In January 2026, the NSI reported a monthly increase in the prices of goods and services in the following groups:
"Personal care, social protection, and miscellaneous goods and services" – 1.8%;
"Restaurant and hotel services" – 1.6%;
"Insurance and financial services" – 1.3%;
"Entertainment, sports, and culture" – 1.2%;
"Food products and non-alcoholic beverages" – 0.9%;
"Healthcare" – 0.9%;
"Furniture, household goods and services for the home and for the usual maintenance of the home" – 0.9%;
"Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels" – 0.8%;
"Educational services" – 0.7%;
"Alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, and narcotics" – 0.5%;
"Transportation" – 0.1%.
Prices are lower in only two groups – "Clothing and footwear" (4% decrease) and "Information and communication" (0.3% decrease).
The final data on inflation in the eurozone, including Bulgaria, will be published by the European statistical service Eurostat on February 25 (Wednesday).
We would like to remind you that the Fiscal Council recently published an analysis in which it explicitly stated that the change of currency does not cause higher prices. Instead, they are the result of real factors such as military conflicts with a direct impact on the country, production costs, demand, energy prices, and economic policy.
The introduction of the euro is a nominal change. Prices and incomes were recalculated at a fixed exchange rate, and this did not lead to an increase in the money supply, especially since our country was in a currency board. The experience of the eurozone countries shows only a minimal one-off effect, and the perception of an overall increase in prices (inflation) is often more psychological than real," the advisory body wrote at the time.
Simona Gotsova 
