At the end of October, Bulgaria had 508,983,326 leva banknotes in circulation, according to the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) statistics. Annually, this marks a decrease of 15.18% from 600,062,295 pieces. The most common banknotes in circulation were 50 leva notes (202,740,954 pieces), 100 leva notes (126,247,654 pieces), and 20 leva notes (78,681,824 pieces). The total value of banknotes was 25,186,424,030 leva, a 15.24% decrease from 29,714,386,115 leva in October 2024.
In 1999, there were 160,559,571 banknotes in circulation, with the highest denomination being the 50 leva note (20,074,488 pieces). The 1 leva note, at that time, was the most distributed, with 37,223,418 pieces. The 1 leva banknotes were removed from circulation on January 1, 2016, but can still be exchanged at BNB cash desks. The 2 leva banknotes were withdrawn on January 1, 2021, and are also exchangeable at the central bank. The 100 leva banknote has been in circulation since December 8, 2003.
The Council of the European Union approved Bulgaria’s accession to the euro area on January 1, 2026, setting a conversion rate of 1.95583 leva per euro, the current central rate of the lev in the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II), which Bulgaria joined on July 10, 2020. The European Central Bank (ECB) and BNB will monitor the lev’s exchange rate against the euro until January 1, 2026.
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