site.btaBulgaria's Trade Balance for March Shows Deficit of Nearly EUR 820 Mln

Bulgaria's trade balance for March showed a deficit of EUR 819.2 million, compared to EUR 257.9 million in the same month of 2024, the Bulgarian National Bank reported Monday. In January-March 2025, the trade balance recorded a deficit of EUR 2.119 billion (1.9% of GDP), compared to EUR 1.047 billion (1% of GDP) in the like period of 2024.

Exports of goods amounted to EUR 3.574 billion for March, dropping by EUR 114.3 million (3.1% of GDP) on an annual basis. For January-March 2025, exports totalled EUR 10.025 billion (9.2% of GDP), which is an year-on-year decrease by EUR 219.3 million.

Imports of goods amounted to EUR 4.393 billion, increasing by EUR 447 million (11.3%) compared to March 2024. For January-March 2025, imports totalled EUR 12.144 billion (11.1% of GDP), which is an year-on-year increase by EUR 853.4 million. 

The services balance for March was positive at EUR 458.7 million compared to a positive balance of EUR 497.9 million for March 2024. For January-March 2025, the service balance was positive at EUR 1.357 billion (1.3% of GDP), compared to a positive balance of EUR 1.468 billion for the like period of 2024.

In March 2025, the current and capital account was negative and amounted to EUR 635.2 million compared to a deficit of EUR 396.2 million for March 2024. In the first quarter of 2025, the account was negative at EUR 1.256 billion (1.2% of GDP), compared to a positive balance of EUR 388 million in January-March.

In March 2025, the current account balance was negative at EUR 776.2 million, compared to EUR 142.2 million in the same month last year. In January-March 2025, the current account was negative at EUR 1.704 billion (1.6% of GDP), compared to a negative balance of EUR 266 million in the first quarter of 2024.

Bulgaria's capital account was positive at EUR 141 million in March 2025, compared to a deficit of EUR 538.4 million in March 2024. The first quarter of this year had a positive capital account of EUR 447.5 million (0.4% of GDP), compared to a deficit of EUR 654 million in January-March 2024.

The financial account was negative at EUR 298.4 million for March 2025, compared to a negative value of EUR 141.3 million for March 2024. In January-March 2025, the financial account was negative again, at EUR 877.6 million (0.8%) from last year's EUR 818.6 million.

According to preliminary data, foreign direct investment grew by EUR 310.3 million in March 2025, compared to an increase by EUR 329.9 million in the like month of 2024. In January-March 2025, investment went up by EUR 1.087 billion, compared to an increase of EUR 1.098 billion in the first quarter of 2024.