Prices in Bulgaria’s small consumer basket appear to be stabilising, according to monitoring data released this month by the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB/KNSB). However, the gap between wholesale and retail prices remains persistently high.
The union has been tracking prices in more than 600 small and large retail outlets across 81 municipalities since mid-2025.
Its latest figures show a moderate monthly increase of 1.2 per cent compared with January, bringing the basket’s total value in February to €59.48. The sharpest rises were recorded in cucumbers, tomatoes and lemons. Compared with June last year, however, the basket is nearly 5 per cent more expensive.
At that time, the total value stood at under €57. The steepest increase since then has been in cucumbers, up by 73.7 per cent, while tomatoes have risen by 10.5 per cent. Chicken prices are up by more than 11 per cent, and the price of standard “Dobrudzha” bread has increased by over 6 per cent.
Plamen Dimitrov, President of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria, said:
“Over all these months, from June until now, the gap between retail and wholesale prices has remained largely unchanged, with only minor fluctuations. The difference from the exchange to the shop — whether a large chain or a small neighbourhood store — has consistently been 50, 60, 70, and in some cases more than 70 per cent.
Cow’s cheese and milk in Bulgaria have, for the past few years, been either the most expensive among the seven countries compared or close to the most expensive.
The worst part is the concentration — an impermissible level of concentration. Seventy-seven per cent of the fresh milk market in Bulgaria is controlled by just two companies. Those €4,000 in fines reported by the National Revenue Agency are, I maintain, negligible given the thousands — if not tens of thousands — of inspections that have been carried out.”
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