site.btaBulgaria’s Inflation Accelerates to 2.8% in March, Eurostat Revises Eurozone Rate Up

Bulgaria’s annual inflation accelerated to 2.8% in March 2026, up by 0.7 percentage points compared with February, marking the first increase since September 2025, Eurostat reported on Thursday. On a monthly basis, inflation in Bulgaria rose by 1% compared with February. The National Statistical Institute reported on Tuesday that, under the national methodology, inflation stood at 4.1% year-on-year and 0.9% month-on-month in March.

In the euro area, annual inflation for March 2026 was revised upwards to 2.6%, from 1.9% in February. Preliminary data published on March 31 had indicated a rate of 2.5%.

A year earlier, inflation in the euro area stood at 2.2%. For the entire European Union, the rate reached 2.8% in March, compared with 2.1% a month earlier and 2.5% in March 2025.

The lowest annual inflation rates in March were recorded in Denmark (1.0%) and in Czechia, Cyprus and Sweden (1.5% each). The highest rates were registered in Romania (9.0%), Croatia (4.6%) and Lithuania (4.4%).

Compared with February 2026, annual inflation decreased in three Member States, remained unchanged in one, and increased in 23.

The main contributors to inflation growth in the euro area in March were services (plus 1.49 percentage points), followed by energy (plus 0.48 percentage points), food, alcohol and tobacco (plus 0.45 percentage points), and non-energy industrial goods (plus 0.13 percentage points).

On a monthly basis, the largest increases in consumer prices in the EU were recorded in Portugal (2.3%), Greece (2.1%) and Latvia (1.9%). A decrease in prices compared with February was recorded only in Sweden, by 0.7%.