Wages and prices › Bulgaria
Bulgaria: a wage buys 55.6% more than in 2019
Prices are 42.0% higher than in August 2019. Hourly wages rose 121.8% between the second quarter of 2019 and the second quarter of 2026, while prices rose 42.5% over the same quarters. Wages have more than caught up.
How much have prices risen since 2019?
Prices in Bulgaria are 42.0% higher than in August 2019. A basket that cost 100 then costs 141.96 now.
Price rise since August 2019, by what people buy. The red mark is all items, +42.0%.
- Leisure and culture+67.4%
- Food and soft drinks+66.2%
- Restaurants and hotels+63.2%
- Education+59.3%
- Housing and energy+54.9%
- Personal care and other+49.6%
- Insurance and finance+38.4%
- Transport+36.7%
- Alcohol and tobacco+36.0%
- Furniture and household goods+26.8%
- Health+18.5%
- Clothing and shoes+11.5%
- Phone and internet−9.7%
Have wages kept up?
Hourly wages rose 121.8% between the second quarter of 2019 and the second quarter of 2026. Prices rose 42.5% over the same quarters, so a wage buys 55.6% more than in 2019.
The hourly measure rose in 2020 because people worked fewer hours, not because pay rose.
How does Bulgaria compare with its neighbours?
- European UnionPrices +30.0%, wages +30.0%, a wage buys +0.1%
- BulgariaPrices +42.5%, wages +121.8%, a wage buys +55.6%
- RomaniaPrices +58.4%, wages +87.9%, a wage buys +18.6%
- GreecePrices +24.6%, wages +40.3%, a wage buys +12.7%
- SerbiaPrices +48.7%, wages +127.7%, a wage buys +53.2%
- North MacedoniaPrices +45.6%, wages +97.4%, a wage buys +35.6%
Work out your own inflation
Your prices depend on what you buy. Put in what you spend each month and see your own rate beside the official one: your inflation in Bulgaria.
Sources and method
Prices: Eurostat, HICP (prc_hicp_minr), August 2026 against August 2019. Wages: Eurostat, labour cost index (lc_lci_r2_q), wages and salaries per hour worked, seasonally adjusted, the second quarter of 2026 against the second quarter of 2019. For the comparison, prices are the average of the same months. The figures are as published on 6 October 2026.