European Union trade in goods continued to expand in 2025, but imports grew faster than exports, reducing the bloc's overall trade surplus and exposing growing pressure on economies such as Bulgaria's.
EU imports increased by 2.4% last year, while exports rose by just 1.9%, according to the figures cited in the supplied material. As a result, the EU's trade surplus declined from 140 billion euros in 2024 to 130 billion euros in 2025.
For Bulgaria, the trend was considerably less favorable. Preliminary data from the National Statistical Institute show that Bulgarian exports to other EU member states fell by 3.8% in 2025 to 53.8839 billion leva. Imports from the EU, meanwhile, increased by 4.5% to 60.5385 billion leva.
That left Bulgaria with a negative trade balance of approximately 6.65 billion leva in trade with EU countries alone. The figures stand in contrast to the EU as a whole, which continued to record a surplus in trade in goods despite the decline from the previous year.
The EU's lower surplus does not reflect a collapse in trade. Both exports and imports increased in 2025, but the faster growth of imports weakened the bloc's overall position. The trade balance is closely watched as an indicator of economic competitiveness because a widening gap between purchases and sales abroad can gradually erode a positive trade position.
