World Bank cuts economic growth forecasts for Bulgaria
The World Bank has cut its economic growth forecasts for Bulgaria for 2026 and 2027, according to its European and Central Asia (ECA) Economic Update, released on April 8.
The report forecasts Bulgaria’s real GDP growth as coming in at 2.6 per cent in 2026, a reduction of 0.3 percentage points compared with its January 2026 forecast, and foresees the country’s economic growth as 2.9 per cent in 2027, down by 0.2 percentage points compared with the World Bank’s January forecast.
In July 2025, the World Bank classified the following transition economies in Europe and Central Asia as high-income: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latva, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, the Slovak Republic, and Slovenia
The World Bank Group’s April 8 ECA Economic Update says that economic growth in the developing countries of Europe and Central Asia (ECA) is likely to slow substantially this year because of the impact of the conflict in the Middle East, geopolitical tensions, and trade fragmentation.
Under a baseline scenario with a large but temporary increase in energy prices in 2026, growth in the countries in Europe and Central Asia is likely to slow markedly, the World Bank says.
For the region as a whole, real GDP growth is projected to weaken to 2.1 percent in 2026 as growth in Russia slows to 0.8 percent. Excluding Russia, the region’s annual pace of expansion is expected to drop to 2.9 percent this year, the slowest growth since 2020.
Risks to the outlook are substantial. A more protracted and intense conflict in the Middle East could severely disrupt global energy flows, pushing oil, natural gas, and fertiliser prices higher and leading to much weaker growth and higher inflation. Growth in the euro area could falter, especially if global trade tensions escalate, the report says.
(Photo: flickr.com/ Shiny Things)
