Production, trade & prices

Cereals and oilseeds. In 2025 farmers harvested 7,353,016 tonnes of wheat from 1,273,260 ha, at 5.78 tonnes per hectare, 7.4% more than in 2024 and the largest wheat harvest since at least 2010¹². Wheat occupied 34.7% of arable land in 2024³. Sunflower gave 1,571,267 tonnes from 942,414 ha, barley 1,063,825 tonnes and rapeseed 319,081 tonnes, twice the 2024 crop, and all cereals for grain together reached 9.63 million tonnes from 1.93 million ha¹. At the end of 2024 the register of grain stores listed 4,245 active sites with a capacity of 18.93 million tonnes³.

Maize and sunflower yields. Grain maize output fell from 3.99 million tonnes in 2019 to 1.60 million tonnes in 2024 and 0.99 million tonnes in 2025, the lowest of the 2010–2025 series, with a yield of 2.60 tonnes per hectare on 382,022 ha harvested²¹. The Agrarian Report 2025 links the 2024 result to dry and hot weather in the summer months, and in September 2025 MAF expected a further fall because of fewer harvested hectares and lower yields after adverse weather³. Sunflower yields declined from 2.44 tonnes per hectare in 2018 to 1.67 tonnes in 2025²¹.

The 2026 harvest and the EU position. Operational MAF data at 27 August 2026 put the wheat harvest at 7.48 million tonnes, 2.2% more than at the same date in 2025, barley at 1.37 million tonnes and rapeseed at 613,719 tonnes, more than double the 2025 level⁴. On Eurostat data, which are expressed at EU standard humidity and are higher than the national series, Bulgaria produced 18.8% of the EU's sunflower seed in 2025, third after Romania and Hungary, and 5.2% of its wheat⁵. On FAOSTAT data Bulgaria was the eighth-largest producer of sunflower seed in 2024 (own ranking, the first-ranked Russian Federation carries flag X)⁶.

Oil-bearing rose and lavender. In 2025 farms harvested 10,236 tonnes of rose flower from 3,887 ha, out of 4,411 ha planted with oil-bearing rose, and 20,630 tonnes of fresh lavender flower from 7,391 ha¹. The harvested lavender area grew from 3,200 ha in 2010 to 18,949 ha in 2020, and the crop reached 81,523 tonnes in 2021, before the area contracted to less than half of its 2020 level². Rose flower output ranged between 7,523 and 14,587 tonnes a year in 2010–2025²¹. Operational data put the 2026 lavender harvest at 24,061 tonnes⁴.

Essential oils. A June 2018 analysis by the agriculture ministry described Bulgaria as having become a world leader in the production and trade of lavender oil and reported, citing NSI, 1,468 kg of rose oil and 186 tonnes of lavender oil produced in 2015⁹. No official source found gives a current world share for lavender oil or rose oil. Exports of essential oils other than citrus and mint oils (HS 330129), a heading that includes lavender and rose oil, peaked at US$106.8 million in 2018 and were US$39.9 million in 2025, 39.7% of it to France (own calculation)¹⁰.

Fruit, vegetables and grapes. Fruit output fell from 204,913 tonnes in 2024 to 65,421 tonnes in 2025, and the harvested orchard area by 58%, which MAF attributes to adverse weather. Apricots fell by 94%, cherries by 81% and plums by 75%³¹¹. Vegetable production was 574,277 tonnes in 2025, including 105,235 tonnes of tomatoes and 94,029 tonnes of potatoes, and greenhouses supplied 92,936 tonnes¹². Vineyards gave 115,909 tonnes of grapes, 14% less than in 2024, from 26,231 ha harvested (5.4% less), and 88,811 tonnes went to industrial winemaking¹³. Tobacco, at 3,960 tonnes in 2025, was less than a tenth of the 41,056 tonnes of 2010¹².

Herds. On 1 November 2025 Bulgaria had 542,191 cattle, close to the 544,456 of 2010, but the number of dairy cows fell by 45.3% over the period, to 168,604¹⁴. Sheep declined from 1.37 million to 968,847 and goats from 356,334 to 145,368, while pigs numbered 718,187 and buffaloes 20,813, more than twice the 2010 number¹⁴.

Milk and meat. Cow's milk production fell from 1,091.6 million litres in 2010 to 681.7 million litres in 2025, and total milk, including sheep, goat and buffalo milk, from 1,240.1 to 762.8 million litres¹⁵. Meat production was 241,433 tonnes in 2024, of which poultry meat 125,321 tonnes and pig meat 86,998 tonnes¹⁶. Bulgaria imported US$347.0 million of pork in 2025¹⁷.

Grain surplus. Eurostat's crop balance sheets show that Bulgaria had usable production of 6.83 million tonnes of common wheat in the 2024 marketing year, five times its domestic use of 1.36 million tonnes (own calculation), and exported 4.99 million tonnes¹⁸. Barley production was 3.3 times and maize production 1.7 times domestic use (own calculations)¹⁸.

Oilseeds. Crushing plants used 1.71 million tonnes of sunflower seed in the 2024 marketing year, more than the 1.60 million tonnes of usable production, and Bulgaria imported 732,000 tonnes and exported 577,000 tonnes of seed in the same year¹⁸. Rapeseed production of 156,000 tonnes covered half of domestic use in 2024, against 184% in 2023 (own calculation)¹⁸. No official self-sufficiency series for meat, milk, fruit or vegetables was found for Bulgaria.

Trade balance. The map shows where Bulgaria's agri-food products go and where its imports come from¹⁹. In 2025 Bulgaria reported US$7,891.9 million of agri-food exports (HS chapters 01–24) and US$8,177.0 million of imports, a deficit of US$285.1 million after a deficit of US$11.2 million in 2024 (own calculations)²⁰. Exports exceeded imports in every year from 2015 to 2023, by as much as US$1,918.9 million in 2021. Exports rose from US$4.16 billion in 2015 to a peak of US$8.68 billion in 2022, while imports grew from US$3.00 billion in 2015 to US$8.18 billion in 2025²⁰. Agri-food products made up 16.5% of goods exports and 13.7% of goods imports in 2025²¹.

Products. Wheat was the largest export in 2025, at US$1,382.3 million for 5.73 million tonnes, followed by sunflower seed (US$757.6 million) and sunflower oil (US$737.4 million)¹⁷. Algeria bought 42.6% of the wheat, Türkiye 24.7% of the sunflower seed, and Greece and Spain together 43.0% of the sunflower oil²². Maize exports fell from 2.59 million tonnes in 2020 to 0.45 million tonnes in 2025²³. Exports of chocolate rose from US$103.5 million in 2015 to US$467.6 million in 2025 and those of bread and biscuits from US$209.3 million to US$523.5 million²³. Cigarette exports were US$177.5 million in 2025, a quarter of them to Libya, against cigarette imports of US$411.4 million²²¹⁷.

Partners. EU-27 members took 57.7% of agri-food exports and supplied 63.2% of imports in 2025 (own calculations)²⁴. Greece (US$904.0 million) and Romania (US$831.8 million) were the largest markets, followed by Türkiye and Algeria. Romania, Germany and Greece were the largest suppliers, and Ukraine supplied US$447.2 million, about a third of it fats and oils²⁴.

Producer and input prices. On Eurostat's annual indices (2020 = 100), output prices of agricultural goods peaked at 156.2 in 2022, fell to 124.75 in 2024 and rose to 135.57 in 2025, while input prices stood at 135.4 in 2025²⁵²⁶. The fertiliser index reached 287.6 in 2022 and was 136.5 in 2025²⁶. The fruit price index rose to 215.69 in 2025²⁵. In the same year the fruit harvest was 68% smaller than in 2024¹¹. NSI reported that producer prices in the fourth quarter of 2025 were 2.5% higher than a year earlier, with fruit prices up 41.9% and cereal prices down 5.2%²⁷.

Crop prices and land. Farmers sold soft wheat for BGN 36.21 per 100 kg and sunflower for BGN 87.34 per 100 kg in 2024, against BGN 60.78 and BGN 115.15 in 2022²⁸. Bulgaria adopted the euro on 1 January 2026 at BGN 1.95583 per euro²⁹, and MAF's 2026 market reports give prices in euro⁴. In the week to 26 August 2026 purchase prices were EUR 184 per tonne for bread wheat and EUR 492 per tonne for sunflower, 3.4% and 7.2% more than a year earlier⁴. Arable land sold for an average of BGN 1,648 per decare in 2025 and the average annual rent was BGN 51 per decare, 3.3% and 12.1% less than in 2024³⁰.