Slowdown of Annual Inflation in Bulgaria to 16% in February

In February, annual inflation in Bulgaria slowed down to a 9-month low of 16.0% compared to 16.7% in January, according to the data of the National Statistical Institute. This is the lowest annual inflation rate since May 2022.

On a monthly basis, however, there was an increase in consumer prices by 0.8% compared to the first month of 2023, when inflation rose by 1.4%.

The January data was revised upwards to a 1.4% increase in monthly inflation and a 16.7% annual increase, compared to a previous NSI estimate of a 1.1% increase from the previous month and 16.4% from a year earlier.

Year-to-date inflation (February 2023 vs. December 2022) is 2.1%, while average annual inflation for March 2022 - February 2023 vs. March 2021 - February 2022 is 16.4%.

(Green) Annual Inflation; (Black) Monthly Inflation

In February, compared to the previous month, the largest increase in the prices of food products and non-alcoholic beverages (by 2.4%), in communications (by 1.9%), restaurants and hotels (by 1.1%), entertainment and culture (by 1.1%) and in healthcare (by 1%).

At the same time, the biggest decrease in prices on a monthly basis was registered in the group "housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels" (decrease by 1.2%), in clothing and shoes (also by 1.2%) and in transport (by 0.4%).

The slowdown in annual inflation in February was the result of weaker price increases in transport (by 7.8% compared to February 2022 and after growing by 10.1% in January), furniture, household equipment and maintenance (by 12.7 % compared to 14.4% a month earlier), food and soft drinks (23.8% after a 25% increase in January), housing and utilities (up 18% after a 19% increase a month earlier) and restaurants...