Title: Bulgaria’s Bread Prices Skyrocket in 2025 as DDS Rebate Ends
The new year has brought unwanted news for Bulgarian bread lovers as prices have already started to rise. The end of the zero VAT rate for bread, introduced during the pandemic, has triggered warnings from bakers since December 2024. The reimplementation of the standard 20% VAT rate is expected to generate an extra over 400 million levs for the national budget.
A price check conducted by Money.bg in Sofia revealed the current costs of some of the most consumed bread types and the extent of the price hikes:
- "Dobrudja" bread (650g): now BGN 1.69, up 31% from BGN 1.29
- Wholegrain bread (300g): now BGN 2.89, up 21% from BGN 2.39
- Typical bread (650g): now BGN 2.59, up 18% from BGN 2.19
- Village bread (600g): now BGN 2.49, up 21% from BGN 2.05
- White bread (550g): now BGN 2.29, up 15% from BGN 1.99
- Rye bread with whole grains (470g): now BGN 2.29, up 21% from BGN 1.89
Overall, the average price increase is around 20%. Some types of bread, which are typically more expensive, have even seen increases above this average.
When the VAT hike was announced, there was no significant decrease in bread prices. Instead, only isolated cases of slight price drops were observed. This implies that bakers might only increase prices by a few percentage points now, using their previous reserves. However, this may not be the case in reality.
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