The World Bank improved its assessment of the growth of Bulgaria's economy last year. The international institution is currently estimating a domestic gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 1.7% in 2023, according to a Global Economic Prospects report published on 9 January.
In the World Bank's previous autumn report, published in early October, the bank projected a more modest 2023 economic growth of 1.4%. However, it also stipulated an increase in GDP in 2024 by 2.7%, which has now been reduced to 2.4%.
For 2025, the World Bank predicts that the Bulgarian economy will expand by 3.3%, which was the forecast in the autumn report.
According to the bank's experts, the ambitious implementation of structural reforms could lead to upward growth prospects. The simultaneous implementation of a wide range of reforms, such as improving market competition and regulation, taxation, personal skills, the labour market, research and development among EU members could lead to a significant increase in GDP for Bulgaria and Romania.
For the region of Central Europe, which includes Bulgaria, the World Bank estimates an economic growth of 0.7% for 2023, 2.8% for 2024 and 3.5% for 2025. The region also includes Hungary, Poland and Romania.