Trips by Bulgarian residents abroad totalled 1,037,700 in July 2026, up 3.1% from July 2025, according to preliminary data published by the National Statistical Institute (NSI) on Thursday.

Trips for holiday and recreation purposes increased by 4.2% year-on-year and those for other purposes by 4%, while business trips declined by 2.4%.

Visits by foreign residents to Bulgaria totalled 1,979,700 in July 2026, down 1.2% from the same month a year earlier. Visits for holiday and recreation purposes decreased by 2.7%, while business visits and trips for other purposes increased by 1.7% and 0.1%, respectively. Transit passes through Bulgaria accounted for 37.5%, or 743,100, of all foreign visits.

In July 2025 Bulgarians made 1,006,300 trips abroad, up 16.8% from July 2024. At the time, increases were recorded across all purposes of travel. Foreign visits to Bulgaria in July 2025 totalled 2,004,700, up 5.6% year-on-year, with growth recorded across all travel purposes. Transit passes numbered 730,800.

Travel in July

The largest number of trips by Bulgarian residents were to Greece, 263,900; Türkiye, 261,200; Romania, 95,800; Germany, 58,400; Serbia, 56,000; Italy, 40,800; France, 35,700; North Macedonia, 33,300; Austria, 32,600; and Spain, 31,800.

Holiday and recreation trips accounted for the largest share of all trips by Bulgarian residents abroad, at 49.5%, followed by trips for other purposes at 35.8% and business trips at 14.7%.

The largest numbers of visits to Bulgaria were made by residents of Türkiye, 312,700; Romania, 301,200; Ukraine, 202,100; Germany, 163,500; Poland, 109,200; Serbia, 101,300; Greece, 95,100; Czechia, 67,700; the United Kingdom, 55,200; and the Netherlands, 50,800.

EU citizens accounted for 54.4% of all foreign visits to Bulgaria, or 1,077,600, with Romanian residents making up the largest share.

Visitors from other European countries totalled 740,700, or 37.4% of all foreign visits. Türkiye accounted for the largest number in this group, with 312,700 visits.

Holiday and recreation visits made up 51% of all foreign visits to Bulgaria, followed by trips for other purposes at 43.2% and business trips at 5.8%.