Agricultural economy & structure

Agriculture's share of the economy was lower in 2023–2025 than in 2010–2022. Value added in agriculture, forestry and fishing was EUR 2,865.3 million in 2025, 2.8% of gross value added and 2.5% of GDP, on NSI data published on 20 October 2026¹. Its share of gross value added ranged between 3.7% and 5.3% in 2010–2020, reached 6.2% in 2021 and stood between 2.7% and 2.9% in 2023–2025². The national accounts follow ESA 2010, and in 2026 NSI revised the years 2018–2024 as part of the gross national income verification cycle¹. The NSI release of 20 October 2026 and Eurostat give Bulgarian national accounts in euro for all years²¹. Bulgaria adopted the euro on 1 January 2026, and leva are converted at the fixed rate of BGN 1.95583 per euro³.

Real farm output varied more than the economy in 2010–2025. Real value added of agriculture, forestry and fishing grew by 28.5% in 2021, fell by 20.5% in 2022 and 16.1% in 2023, and grew by 6.9% in 2024 and 0.4% in 2025, while GDP grew by between 2.0% and 6.1% in each of those years²⁴. In the first and second quarters of 2026 the sector's seasonally adjusted value added was 1.6% and 3.8% above a year earlier, against 2.4% and 2.2% for total gross value added, on provisional data⁵. On World Bank data agricultural value added was US$3.24 billion in 2025, against US$2.04 billion in 2010 and US$3.65 billion in 2021⁶. In its update of 8 October 2026 the World Bank series used NSI value added from before the 2026 revision, for example EUR 3,088 million for 2021 against EUR 3,904 million in the current data⁶².

Crops made up two-thirds of agricultural output in 2025. The economic accounts for agriculture put the output of the agricultural industry at BGN 10,141.5 million in 2025, about US$5.84 billion at the year's average exchange rate (own calculation), 4.5% more than in 2024, with prices 5.3% higher and volumes 0.7% lower¹²¹¹. Crop output was BGN 6,701.0 million (66.1%), of which cereals BGN 3,455.8 million and industrial crops BGN 1,983.2 million, and animal output was BGN 2,622.6 million (25.9%)¹². Gross value added of the agricultural industry rose by 11.9% to BGN 4,485.2 million, with volumes unchanged and prices 11.9% higher. Net entrepreneurial income rose by 19.3% to BGN 1,102.0 million, which NSI attributes to lower rents paid¹². NSI published these final 2025 data in BGN on 13 October 2026. At the fixed conversion rate they equal EUR 5,185.3 million of output and EUR 2,293.2 million of value added (own calculation)¹²³.

Rents paid exceeded entrepreneurial income in 2023–2025. On Eurostat data rents paid by agricultural units rose from EUR 233.9 million in 2010 to EUR 1,294.7 million in 2023 and were an estimated EUR 1,080.3 million in 2025, while entrepreneurial income fell from EUR 1,656.3 million in 2022 to EUR 498.4 million in 2023¹³. Other subsidies on production were an estimated EUR 979.3 million in 2025, against EUR 1,260.9 million in 2024¹³. Indicator A, the real factor income per annual work unit, stood at an estimated 82.7 in 2025 (2020 = 100), against 130.5 in 2022¹⁴.

Fewer people worked in agriculture in 2025 than in 2010. The labour force survey counted 139.9 thousand people aged 15 and over employed in agriculture, forestry and fishing in 2025, 4.8% of employment (own calculation), against 209.6 thousand (6.8%) in 2010⁸. Women made up 38.3 thousand of them in 2025⁸. The survey series has breaks, including in 2024, when the count fell from 166.4 thousand to 141.9 thousand⁸. The International Labour Organization's modelled estimate, published by the World Bank, puts the share at 4.7% in 2025¹⁶.

Salaried labour exceeded non-salaried labour in 2025 for the first time in the 2010–2025 series. Total agricultural labour input fell from 406.5 thousand annual work units (AWU) in 2010 to an estimated 152.7 thousand in 2025, a decrease of 62.4% (own calculation). Non-salaried input fell from 336.8 thousand to 73.4 thousand AWU, while salaried input rose from 69.7 thousand to 79.3 thousand¹⁵. One annual work unit corresponds to the work performed by one person occupied on an agricultural holding on a full-time basis¹⁷, which Bulgaria sets at 1,856 hours a year¹⁸.

A quarter of the population lived in rural areas at the end of 2025. NSI counted 6,423,207 residents on 31 December 2025, of whom 1,677,521 (26.1%) lived in rural areas, where the mean age was 47.7 years against 44.6 years in urban areas¹⁹.

The number of holdings fell by 64% between the 2010 and 2020 censuses. The 2020 agricultural census counted 132,742 agricultural holdings using 4,564,152 ha of utilised agricultural area (UAA), against 370,222 holdings in 2010¹⁸²⁰. Eurostat defines an agricultural holding as a single unit, both technically and economically, operating under a single management and which undertakes economic activities in agriculture²¹. UAA is the total area taken up by arable land, permanent grassland, permanent crops and kitchen gardens used by the holding, regardless of the type of tenure or of whether it is used as a part of common land²². The 2023 farm structure survey was limited to holdings above the survey threshold. These numbered 69,740, 25.0% fewer than the 92,980 holdings above the threshold in 2020, and farmed 4,386,570 ha, 62.9 ha on average (own calculation)²³.

Holdings of 100 ha or more farmed three-quarters of the land in 2020. The 7,630 holdings of 100 ha or more, 5.7% of all holdings, farmed 75.1% of UAA, while the 79,530 holdings with more than 0 and less than 5 ha, 59.9% of the total, farmed 2.5% (own calculation)²³. In the EU-27, holdings of 100 ha or more farmed 51.8% of UAA in 2020 (own calculation)²³. The census found 84% of UAA in holdings of 50 ha or more¹⁸. Economic size is the total standard output of a holding in euro, the standard output being the average monetary value of agricultural output at farm-gate price²⁴. Holdings with standard output of EUR 100,000 or more were 4.8% of all holdings and accounted for 71.3% of total standard output, while 36.9% of holdings had less than EUR 2,000 (own calculation)²³.

Companies farmed 40.4% of the land in 2020. Natural persons held 121,372 holdings (91.4%) and 37.4% of UAA, while 8,624 companies farmed 1,842,096 ha (40.4%), sole traders 11.2% and 714 cooperatives 10.3% (own calculation)²⁰. The number of companies rose from 3,921 in 2010 to 8,624 in 2020, and the number of cooperatives fell from 946 to 714¹⁸.

Three in ten holdings had a manager aged 65 or over in 2020. Managers aged 65 or over ran 30.8% of holdings in 2020 and managers under 40 ran 15.7%, while women managed 27.9% (own calculation)²⁵. Among holdings above the threshold in 2023 the share of managers aged 65 or over was 26.1% and the share of women 28.5% (own calculation)²⁵. Farmers registered with the ministry under Ordinance No 3 of 1999 numbered 66,310 in June 2025, against 80,905 in the 2019/2020 farming year²⁶.

Rented land made up 77.1% of UAA in 2020. Tenants farmed 3,519,870 ha, owners 409,120 ha (9.0%) and common land made up 604,860 ha (13.3%), against a rented share of 45.8% in the EU-27 (own calculation)²⁷. The rented share was 77.2% among holdings above the threshold in 2023 (own calculation)²⁷. Farms in the Farm Accountancy Data Network rented 65.71 ha of their average 76.57 ha in 2023, or 85.8% (own calculation)²⁸. For the 2024 direct payments campaign, 5,385,309 properties covering 3,027,350 ha lay in blocks for consolidated use of agricultural land under voluntary agreements or allocations²⁶.

Farm income per work unit fell in 2023. In the Farm Accountancy Data Network, which represented 56,946 farms in 2023, farm net value added per annual work unit was BGN 36,371 (EUR 18,597) and net income per AWU was BGN 11,774 (EUR 6,021), against BGN 56,706 and BGN 31,825 in 2022²⁸³⁰. The average farm paid BGN 39,984 of rent and received BGN 56,310 of current subsidies in 2023²⁸. Farms with standard output above EUR 500,000 averaged 1,202.30 ha and BGN 2,248 of net income per AWU, against 6.50 ha and BGN 9,918 for farms of EUR 4,000–8,000²⁸.

The BANSIK survey put utilised agricultural area at 4.58 million ha in 2025. MAF's area-frame survey counted 4,582,079 ha of UAA in 2025, 41.3% of the territory, with 3,467,614 ha of arable land, 981,651 ha of permanent grassland and meadow-orchards and 121,676 ha of permanent crops³⁵. UAA was 8.6% lower than in 2024, and MAF attributes the lower permanent grassland area to control checks on more than two-thirds of the survey points³⁵. Wheat covered 1,341,281 ha, sunflower 933,436 ha and maize 444,946 ha in 2025³⁵. BANSIK observes land use across the whole territory, whereas the farm structure survey records the UAA of agricultural holdings, so the two totals differ³⁵²⁹.

Arable land prices fell in 2025 after rising in each year from 2021 to 2024 (2024 on the administrative-source basis). The average price of arable land transactions was BGN 1,648 per decare (0.1 ha) in 2025, 3.3% lower than in 2024, against BGN 870 in 2017. The average rent for arable land fell by 12.1% to BGN 51 per decare³⁶. Prices were highest in the Severoiztochen (North-East) region, at BGN 2,092 per decare³⁶. From 2025 NSI takes prices and rents from administrative registers instead of a survey, and it recalculated 2024 on the same basis³⁶. Eurostat publishes the series in euro per hectare, with arable land at EUR 8,679 per hectare and arable rent at EUR 305 per hectare in 2024³⁷³⁸, which differ from NSI's recalculated 2024 averages of BGN 1,705 and BGN 58 per decare³⁶. The State Land Fund had let 90,017 ha under rent or lease by 2024²⁶.