Bulgaria's industrial output fell 5.4% in August 2026 from August 2025, according to first Eurostat figures published on 15 October. That is the third-biggest annual drop in the European Union.
Output has now been below last year's level for five months in a row. The data are seasonally adjusted, which means they remove the usual swings during the year.
Output rose 0.8% from July, the first monthly rise since March. That ranks Bulgaria ninth in the EU for monthly growth. In July, output fell 2.9% from June.
On an annual basis, the fall was 2.6% in June and 6.8% in July, so August's drop is smaller than a month earlier.
Only Ireland, with 15%, and Belgium, with 7.1%, had bigger annual falls than Bulgaria. Luxembourg is next, with 5.3%. The biggest rises were in the Netherlands (9.8%), Hungary (8.8%) and Denmark (8.3%).
Compared with July, output rose most in Sweden (6.5%), Estonia (4.3%) and the Netherlands (2.6%). The biggest monthly falls were in Belgium (5.1%), Ireland (3.1%) and Portugal (2%).
Across the EU, output in August was 0.2% lower than in August 2025 and 0.3% lower than in July. In the eurozone the fall is bigger: 1.1% on the year and 0.5% on the month.
Non-durable consumer goods saw the biggest fall in the EU: 6.7% on the year and 2.3% on the month. The other groups are up from August 2025: intermediate goods by 0.3%, capital goods (machinery and equipment) by 3.6%, durable consumer goods by 0.8% and energy by 2.4%.
On a monthly basis in the EU, only durable consumer goods stayed unchanged. Capital goods are down 0.7%, energy 0.5% and intermediate goods 0.3%.
In the eurozone, the monthly fall is 2.7% for non-durable consumer goods, 0.8% for intermediate goods and 0.6% for energy, while capital goods rose 0.4% and durable consumer goods 0.2%.