Producer prices in Bulgaria rose by 17.5% year-on-year in May 2026, accelerating notably from a 15.2% increase in April and marking the fastest growth since December 2022. The upturn was driven mainly by the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply sector, where inflation jumped to 21.5% from 16.6%, underscoring mounting energy-related cost pressures.
Price growth in manufacturing also strengthened, with inflation rising to 8.9% from 7.5%. This was supported by sharper increases in several key segments, including basic metals (21.5% vs. 19.8%), chemicals and chemical products (14.8% vs. 12.7%), and motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers (11.0% vs. 7.4%).
By contrast, prices in mining and quarrying remained very high but showed signs of moderation, easing to 61.9% from 64.3%. This deceleration was largely due to slower price growth in the mining of metal ores (110.3% vs. 115.2%) and in other mining and quarrying activities (5.1% vs. 5.3%).
On a monthly basis, producer prices declined by 0.2% in May, reversing the 1.9% increase recorded in April.
