Bulgaria recovers from 2019 African swine fever crisis

The USDA GAIN report highlights the resilience of Bulgaria's livestock industry, which has rebounded from the 2019 African swine fever crisis despite facing challenges such as rising feed grain and energy prices, inflation, and consumer demand fluctuations due to the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. The political stalemate has negatively impacted domestic support policies, leading to a decrease in backyard farmers raising pigs. However, commercial pork farmers have recovered, with consumer demand improving due to the stabilization of the hotel, restaurant, and institutional sector, and better travel and tourism seasons. Beef and pork consumption has grown significantly, reaching record highs in 2021 and likely in 2022.