Bulgaria: poorest households' basket up only 1.9 percent – overall inflation at 5.6%
According to the statistics institute NSI, prices in the "small basket" for the lowest-income households rose much more slowly in September than consumer prices overall. Education and transport rose.
Symbolic image · Photo: Bdx / Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (cropped and resized)
Consumer prices in Bulgaria in September 2026 were 5.6 percent higher than a year earlier, according to the flash estimate of the National Statistical Institute NSI (as of 1 October 2026) – both by the national consumer price index (CPI) and the EU-harmonised index (HICP). Compared with August, prices fell slightly: by 0.3 percent according to the CPI and by 0.1 percent according to the HICP. According to the NSI, the so-called small basket, which reflects the spending of the lowest-income 20 percent of households, rose much less. It was only 1.9 percent more expensive year on year and rose by 0.2 percent month on month.
Within this basket, food prices rose by 0.7 percent in September compared with the previous month and services by 0.1 percent. Non-food goods, by contrast, became 0.7 percent cheaper.
In the general consumer price index, the biggest monthly falls in September were for recreation, sport and culture (minus 10.4 percent according to the NSI), restaurants and hotels (minus 1.1 percent) and furnishings and household goods (minus 0.5 percent). Prices rose, however, for transport (up 3.4 percent), education (up 3.2 percent), as well as alcohol and tobacco (up 1.1 percent). The NSI plans to publish its regular inflation release for September on 14 October.
This article is for information only and is not legal, tax, financial or medical advice. Figures as of the date stated.