Social development

Blagoevgrad has performed relatively well in terms of demographic indicators and is one of the districts with the highest rate of enrolment in 5th–8th grade. Healthcare suffers from a shortage of doctors – both GPs and specialist physicians – and of hospital beds. The crime rate remains relatively low and detection rates relatively high. Blagoevgrad still ranks among the districts with the lowest volumes of CO2 emissions. The intensity of the cultural life is traditionally not very high compared to that of other districts, and in 2020 it shrank even further due to the pandemic and the reduced number of visits to public places.