Bulgaria: Sheep meat imports from Greece surpass those from North Macedonia
According to SAPI data, as of January 8, 2025, the purchase price of lambs (live weight) was 11.59 BGN/kg excluding VAT. The price increase compared to January 2024 was 4.4%. In wholesale, a kilogram of lamb meat in the first days of 2025 was traded for 25.27 BGN with VAT – a 6.6% increase. The jump in retail prices was greater – by 14.3%, reaching 27.76 BGN/kg with VAT.
The infographic for the last three years outlines a gradual increase in both live weight purchase prices and wholesale and retail prices of lamb meat . In January 2022, the purchase prices of lambs (live weight) were just over 6 BGN/kg excluding VAT, after a year they increased to over 8 BGN/kg excluding VAT, and in January 2024 they reached levels of about 11 BGN/kg excluding VAT. The growth in wholesale and retail prices is more tangible.
At the end of 2024, the average prices of classified meat - light lambs (up to 13 kg) in Bulgaria continue to be below the EU average, but are slightly higher than those in neighboring Greece.
According to preliminary data from the Agrostatistics of the Ministry of Agriculture, the production of sheep and goat meat from slaughterhouses in Bulgaria decreased over the past year . For the first nine months of 2024, 142.8 thousand animals were slaughtered in them, which is over 21% less than the same period in 2023. The meat yield amounted to 1,430 tons of slaughter meat - an 18.1% decrease.
During this period, imports of sheep meat from both EU countries and third countries also decreased . As of September 2024, 1,469.6 tons were imported, down 7.5%. Imports of sheep meat from Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, and North Macedonia are also declining.
However, larger quantities entered the country from Germany – a growth of 633.4%, from New Zealand (152.6% more) and from Italy (97% more). Imports from Greece also increased – by 17.5%, displacing imports from North Macedonia in terms of imported quantities and taking first place among the countries from which Bulgaria imported sheep meat.
Preliminary data from the National Institute of Agriculture and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food report that by September 2024, the export of sheep meat will also significantly decrease - by nearly 70%. During this period, our country exported only 94.8 tons of sheep meat.
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