site.btaForeign Direct Investment in Bulgaria Nears EUR 1.09 Bln at End of Q1, BNB Data

Foreign direct investment in Bulgaria amounted to EUR 1.087 billion at the end of Q1 of 2025, according to preliminary data of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) released on Monday. The net flow of direct investments marked a decline of 1% compared to the first quarter of 2024. In comparison, for the period January-March last year, the net flow of direct investments in the country was also positive and reached EUR 1.098 billion or EUR 10.9 million more than the current result.

Foreign investment for the January-March 2025 period is equivalent to 1% of the country's projected gross domestic product.

Specifically, for the month of March this year, the flow of foreign direct investment in Bulgaria was positive and reached EUR 310.3 million. In the same month of 2024, the net flow was positive and reached EUR 329.9 million.

The BNB's data on the net flow of direct investments in the country is preliminary, which means that it is subject to revision, which may change the current result.

The largest net positive direct investment flows into the country for January-March 2025 were from the Netherlands (EUR 190.3 million), Austria (EUR 127.2 million) and Greece (EUR 115.2 million), while the largest net negative flows were to the US (EUR 132.6 million) and Switzerland (EUR 50.9 million).

The net flow from non-residents' investments in real estate was negative at EUR 2.5 million, with a positive net flow of EUR 1.1 million for January-March 2024.

According to preliminary data, the net flow of direct investment abroad for January-March 2025 amounted to EUR 174 million (0.2% of GDP), against EUR 110.3 million (0.1% of GDP) for the same period of the previous year. In March 2025, the net flow was positive and amounted to EUR 29.9 million, against a positive value of EUR 56.4 million in March 2024.

The BNB publishes monthly data on the net flow of direct investment for the respective month, which includes all transactions carried out during the reporting period. The net flow is reported according to the principle of the original direction of the investment.