Their total value is over 25 billion leva
At the end of October, there were 508,983,326 leva banknotes in circulation in Bulgaria, according to statistics from the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), published on its website. On an annual basis, they decreased by 15.18 percent (600,062,295 pieces).
The largest number of banknotes in circulation continues to be those with a denomination of 50 leva – 202,740,954 pieces, followed by the 100 leva banknotes – 126,247,654 pieces and those with a denomination of 20 leva – 78,681,824 pieces.
The value of banknotes in circulation in leva was 25,186,424,030 leva at the end of October. Compared to October 2024, the decrease is 15.24 percent (29,714,386,115 leva).
At the end of 1999, 160,559,571 banknotes were in circulation, according to BNB statistics. At that time, the banknote with the largest denomination was the 50 leva note, and 20,074,488 of it were in circulation. At that time, the most widely distributed banknotes were the 1 leva note – 37,223,418 pieces.
1 leva banknotes have not been in circulation since January 1, 2016, but continue to be exchanged at the BNB cash desks. 2 leva banknotes have been withdrawn from circulation since January 1, 2021 and also continue to be exchanged at the central bank cash desks. The 100 leva banknote has been in circulation since December 8, 2003.
The Council of the European Union formally approved the accession of Bulgaria to the euro area on 1 January 2026 and determined a Bulgarian lev conversion rate of 1.95583 per euro. This is the current central rate of the lev in the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II), which the currency joined on 10 July 2020. The European Central Bank (ECB) and BNB agreed to monitor developments in the Bulgarian lev against the euro on the foreign exchange market until 1 January 2026.
