Bulgaria’s industrial business climate index inched up to 16.9 in September 2026 from 16.3 a month earlier. The improvement was driven mainly by stronger optimism regarding enterprises’ current business situation (20.5 vs 18), supported by easing concerns about insufficient foreign demand (22.4% vs 27.3%).
Nevertheless, the key constraints on business activity continue to stem from the uncertain economic environment (46% vs 43.3%) and persistent labor shortages (31.2% vs 29%).
Looking ahead, employment expectations have improved (-0.9 vs -3.6). Selling price pressures are projected to remain broadly unchanged over the next three months (12.5 vs 11.9), while production activity is expected to develop favorably (7.7 vs 5.5).
