site.btaUPDATED Cost of Living for Bulgarian Families Rises to BGN 2,748 per Month in Q2 2025

The necessary net monthly income to support a three-member household consisting of two adults and one child up to 14 years of age, in Bulgaria is BGN 2,748 as of the end of the second quarter of 2025, according to new data from the Institute for Social and Trade Union Research of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB). A single working person living alone needs a net monthly income of BGN 1,526.

The union presented the results of the monitoring of consumer prices and the subsistence wage at a press conference.

The income required for subsistence increased by 0.4% on a quarterly basis and by 5.1% on an annual basis.

Compared to the same period last year, in 2025, BGN 133 more is needed to support a three-member family and BGN 73 more for a single working person.

This statistic shows a steady and significant increase in the required means, commented CITUB President Plamen Dimitrov.

According to CITUB data, a gross monthly wage of BGN 1,967 is needed for a single working person to cover their basic living needs, the CITUB President said. In Sofia, required amount is even higher, he added. For a three-member household with only one working parent, that person’s gross income should be no less than BGN 3,541 in order to sustain the entire household.

As of May 2025, over 1.5 million people in Bulgaria earn a social security income below the gross subsistence wage, out of a total of 2.643 million insured individuals. Dimitrov acknowledged there has been wage growth, but emphasized that Bulgaria still has the lowest pay levels among all EU member states.

Food prices in Bulgaria are rising at nearly twice the average EU rate, said Violeta Ivanova, Deputy Director of the Institute for Social and Trade Union Research. In Bulgaria, food prices have increased by 6.3%, compared to 3% across the EU. The most significant price hikes are seen in bread, bakery products, grains, eggs, and dairy. On a quarterly basis, food prices rose by 1.4%, with notable increases in coffee, tea, and cocoa (6.9%), fruits and preserves (6%), meat and meat products (2.1%), eggs (2.1%), and fish and seafood (2%). Ivanova noted that no food category has seen a year-on-year price decline.

She also cited Eurostat data on Harmonized Indices of Consumer Prices (HICP), showing Bulgaria’s inflation rate at 2.9%, outpacing the EU average of 2.2%.

CITUB continues to push for the transposition of the EU Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages and the Directive on Pay Transparency. The union is also calling for the development of a clear definition and methodology for officially calculating the subsistence wage and bringing the minimum wage closer to that benchmark.