site.btaMoney in Circulation in Bulgaria Increases by 5.5% in 2024, Reaching BGN 31.078 Bln

The money in circulation in Bulgaria increased by 5.5% (BGN 1.616 billion) in 2024, reaching BGN 31.078 billion by the end of December, according to the review of the emission and cash operations of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) for the fourth quarter of 2024, BNB said in a press release.

Year-on-year, the growth rate has slowed both in percentage terms and in absolute value. By comparison, in 2023, money in circulation increased by 7.4%, or BGN 2.036 billion.

In the last quarter of 2024, banknotes and coins in circulation grew by 2.4% compared to the end of the previous quarter (BGN 721.7 million). In December, the increase was BGN 497.5 million, which represents a growth of 1.6% compared to the previous month.

December saw increased demand for cash due to the Christmas and New Year's holidays, but despite this, the growth in money circulation reached in December 2024 was the lowest registered for the period since the denomination of the Bulgarian lev in 1999, the BNB’s press release stated.

At the end of 2024, the share of banknotes in the total value of money in circulation was 97.98%, and the share of change coins was 2.01%. The share of commemorative coins in the total value of money in circulation was 0.01% (BGN 2.1 million), and it remained unchanged both compared to the end of September 2024 and the end of 2023.

At end-2024, there were 611.1 million banknotes in circulation, which is an increase of 6.1 million, or 1%, compared to end-September. In the fourth quarter, their total value increased by 2.4%, reaching BGN 30.407 billion by the end of December.

Over the course of 2024, the number of banknotes in circulation increased by 5.2 million (0.9%) and their value increased by BGN 1.581 billion (5.5%). The trend from previous periods of high annual growth in cash circulation of 100 BGN denomination banknotes continued.

At the end of 2024, there were 3.339 billion change coins in circulation, which is an increase of 24.2 million, or 0.7%, compared to the end of September. In the fourth quarter, their total value grew by 1.5%, reaching BGN 624.5 million by the end of December.

Over the course of one year, the overall trend of increasing the number of change coins in circulation across all denominations remained. Compared to the end of 2023, the total number of change coins in circulation increased by 116.4 million (3.6%), and their value increased by BGN 34.3 million (5.8%).