site.btaBulgaria's Trade Balance for May Shows Deficit of EUR 434.7 Mln - Central Bank

Bulgaria’s trade balance for May showed a deficit of EUR 434.7 million, compared to EUR 409.4 million in May 2024, the Bulgarian National Bank said.

In January-May 2025, the trade balance recorded a deficit of EUR 3.3906 billion (3% of GDP), compared to EUR 1.9172 billion (1.8% of GDP) in the like period of 2024, according to the data.

Exports of goods amounted to EUR 3.3492 billion in May, dropping by EUR 89.6 million (2.6% of GDP) on an annual basis. For January-May, exports totalled EUR 16.7018 billion (14.9% of GDP), down by EUR 701.4 million (4% of GDP) compared to the same period last year.

Imports of goods amounted to EUR 3.7839 billion, decreasing by EUR 64.2 million (1.7% of GDP) year-on-year. For the first five months of the year, imports totalled EUR 20.0923 billion (17.9% of GDP), increasing by EUR 771.9 million (4% of GDP) year-on-year.

The services balance was positive at EUR 624.4 million, compared to a positive balance of EUR 552.2 million in May 2024. For January-May, the balance was positive at EUR 2.8388 billion (2.5% of GDP), compared to a positive balance of EUR 2.5655 billion (2.5% of GDP) for the like period of 2024.

In May 2025, the country's current and capital account was negative and amounted to EUR 31.5 million compared to a deficit of EUR 191.5 million in May 2024. For January-May 2025, the current and capital account was negative and amounted to EUR 1.7411 billion (1.6% of projected GDP), compared to a negative balance of EUR 167.2 million (0.2% of GDP) for the same period last year.

The capital account was positive at EUR 100.4 million compared to a surplus of EUR 112.7 million in May 2024. For January-May, the capital account was positive at EUR 650 million (0.6% of GDP), compared to a surplus of EUR 908.8 million (0.9% of GDP) for January-May 2024.

The financial account was negative at EUR 310.6 million, compared to a negative value of EUR 136.9 million for May 2024. For January-May, the financial account was negative at EUR 2.0681 billion (1.8% of GDP), compared to a negative value of EUR 557.9 million (0.5% of GDP) for the like period of 2024.

Preliminary data show that foreign direct investment in Bulgaria presented according to the directional principle increased by EUR 331.3 million in May 2025, compared with an inflow of EUR 72.9 million in May 2024. For January-May 2025, foreign direct investment went up by EUR 1.3937 billion from last year’s EUR 948.7 million.

Direct investment abroad increased by EUR 5.8 million, compared with an increase of EUR 69.5 million in May 2024. For January-May 2025, they rose by EUR 105.6 million, up from EUR 448.3 million in the same period last year.