site.btaBulgaria Ranks Third in Euro Area by Annual Economic Growth in Q4 of 2025

The gross domestic product (GDP) of the euro area and the European Union increased by 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2025 compared with the previous quarter, according to preliminary seasonally adjusted data published by Eurostat on Friday.

In the third quarter, GDP had risen by 0.3% in the euro area and by 0.4% in the EU quarter-on-quarter.

The euro area economy grew by 1.5% in 2025, while the EU economy expanded by 1.6%, based on seasonally and calendar-adjusted data.

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, GDP increased by 1.3% in the euro area and by 1.5% in the EU in the fourth quarter of 2025. In the previous quarter, annual growth stood at 1.4% in the euro area and 1.6% in the EU.

In Bulgaria, GDP rose by 0.8% in the fourth quarter of 2025, the same rate as recorded in Spain and Portugal. In the third quarter of 2025, Bulgaria’s GDP had grown by 0.7%.

On an annual basis, Bulgaria’s GDP growth slowed to 2.9% in the fourth quarter of 2025, down from 3.1% in the third quarter. Earlier on Friday, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) published identical estimates for the development of the Bulgarian economy.

Among EU countries, the fastest annual growth rates in the fourth quarter were recorded in Ireland (6.7%), Cyprus (4.5%), Poland (3.6%) and Bulgaria (2.9%), Eurostat data show.

Among euro area member states, which Bulgaria joined on January 1, 2026, the country ranked third in terms of annual economic growth in the fourth quarter of last year.

On a quarterly basis, the strongest growth in the fourth quarter of 2025 was recorded in Lithuania (1.7%), Cyprus (1.4%) and Poland (1%). A quarterly contraction was reported only in Romania (-1.9%) and Ireland (-0.6%).