Bulgaria has made good progress towards economic convergence with the euro area since 2024, according to the Convergence Report of the European Central Bank (ECB) published today.
“This positive assessment of convergence paves the way for Bulgaria to introduce the euro as of 1 January 2026 and become the 21st EU Member State to join the euro area,” said Philip R. Lane, Member of the ECB Executive Board. “I wish to congratulate Bulgaria on its tremendous dedication to making the adjustments needed.”
According to the ECB’s assessment, Bulgaria is within the reference values of the convergence criteria and complies with the legal requirements. Having participated in the exchange rate mechanism (ERM II) and the banking union since 10 July 2020, Bulgaria has made another step towards European integration under challenging economic conditions. Achieving an environment that is conducive to sustainable convergence in Bulgaria requires stability-oriented economic policies and wide-ranging structural reforms. These policies are discussed in more detail in the report.
As regards the price stability criterion, in April 2025, the 12-month average rate of HICP inflation in Bulgaria stood at 2.7%, i.e. just below the reference value of 2.8% (Chart 1). The reference value is based on the three best performing Member States in terms of price stability, i.e. Ireland (1.2%), Finland (1.3%) and Italy (1.4%), taking their average inflation over the past 12 months and adding 1.5 percentage points.