Bulgaria's construction output was higher than a year earlier in each of the first eight months of 2026. Average annual growth for the period is above 5.6%, according to figures from the national statistics institute (NSI).
The NSI released the figures for Builders' Day, which is today, St Demetrius' Day. The eight months are the first for Bulgaria in the eurozone, which it joined as the 21st member.
The annual figure compares a month with the same month a year earlier. The monthly figure compares it with the month before. Monthly numbers swing: in January output was 1.2% below December, but 4% above January 2025.
February was the strongest month, with output up 3.1% on January and 8% on a year earlier. In March output rose 0.6% on the month and 7.7% on the year. In April it fell 0.1% on the month, but stayed 6.6% above the level of a year earlier.
Output grew fastest at the end of winter and the start of spring, the NSI says. The pace then slowed, but growth continued. In May output fell 0.8% on the month and was 5.6% above May 2025. June brought a 0.9% rise on the month and 4.4% on the year. July was 0.6% below June, but 4.9% above July 2025. In August output grew 0.8% on the month and 4.2% on the year.
In its report for 2025, the last year before the euro, the Bulgarian Chamber of Builders (BCB) calls the period a strong upswing: growth in money terms was in double digits, more people had jobs and pay was higher.
The chamber's preliminary data show total construction output in 2025 was €14.613bn (28.581bn leva), up 17.2% on 2024.
Specialised construction work grew most, by 25.7%, with output reaching €5.154bn (10.082bn leva). Output from building construction was €5.574bn (10.902bn leva), 16.4% above the level of a year earlier. Civil engineering, meaning infrastructure, reached €3.884bn (7.597bn leva) after growth of 8.5%.
In 2025, 214,700 people worked in construction, up 5.5% on the year. Of these, 169,900 had employment contracts, and their number rose 6.2%. Another 44,800 were self-employed, up 2.7%.
The average annual wage in the sector was €13,132 (25,684 leva), up 12.1% on 2024. That is a rise of €1,413 (2,763 leva).
Data from the BCB's Central Professional Register of Builders as of 5 March 2026 show 7,950 registered firms. Of these, 7,902 are Bulgarian legal entities and 48 are foreign. The chamber has struck off 484 firms that did not meet legal requirements, under Article 20, paragraph 2 of the Law on the Chamber of Builders.
Builders' Day was set by Council of Ministers Decision No. 1133 of 17 October 1996 and falls on the feast of the Holy Great Martyr Demetrius the Myrrh-Streaming in the Orthodox calendar. In Bulgarian folk tradition, St Demetrius' Day marks the end of the busy farming season, and St Demetrius is the patron saint of craftsmen, master masons and builders.