Silistra

In 2017 Silistra was the district with the lowest GDP per capita in the country: 6,687 BGN or only 47% of the national average. Salaries in the district were also among the lowest (at 8,672 BGN gross annual salary), though still a little higher than those in Blagoevgrad, Vidin, Haskovo, and Kyustendil. Silistra is close to the bottom level in household incomes with only Targovishte and Sliven ranked behind it. The average income per household member in the district was 4,201 BGN or lower than the national average by 1,300 BGN. What is peculiar about Silistra is the fact that in spite of the low incomes, the levels of poverty and inequality are not particularly high. In 2018 the share of households living below the poverty line was 20% or slightly below the country average rate. Another interesting figure is the share of households living in material deprivation, 15% versus 21% for the country in general.

Unemployment in the district of Silistra halved relative to its highest 2014 rate, but remained twice the national average rate in 2018: 11.1% for the population over 15 years of age. During the same period in the labor market the employment rate grew by 10 p.p. to reach 60% of the working age population, which was still below the national average rate of almost 68%. The poor performance of Silistra during the period of economic recovery can be attributed to a great extent to the educational profile of its workforce: only 17% of the population aged 25–64 has higher education while close to 33% have primary or lower education, which is a strong hindrance to investment in the district.

With the lowest GDP per capita, it is not accidental that Silistra ranked among the last districts in production value: 8,058 BGN/person in 2017 or almost three times less than the national average. The district also occupied the last but one place before Montana in FDI with 324 EUR/person cumulative at the end of 2017 or ten times below the national average. Its performance in FTA acquisition expenditure was relatively better in 2017 year: 1,376 BGN/person, once again considerably below country average. The poor economic activity in Silistra is also visible in the relatively small number of enterprises: only 36 per 1,000 people (versus an average of 57 for Bulgaria). The district’s performance in EU funds utilization was relatively better: as of mid-2019 it reached 1,229 EUR/person.

Road density in the district of Silistra is almost identical to the average rate in the country: 17.8 km/100 sq. km territory. However, in 2017 the share of first-class roads was considerably below average: 11.3% of all in the district versus an average of 18.4% in Bulgaria. The quality of roads was relatively high, 62.1% of all roads were rated as being in good condition, and this indicator has improved significantly in recent years. Most districts in Northern Bulgaria are characterized by lower-density railroad networks; in Silistra it is 2.5 km/100 sq. km territory (versus an average of 3.6 km in the country). The last few years marked a considerable increase in household Internet connectivity: in 2018, the share of those with Internet connection reached 70% (compared to only 20% a decade ago).

The district’s municipalities have maintained considerably lower rates for local taxes than national averages. In 2018 the only tax with an average rate higher than the average rate for the country was the vehicle tax: 1.27 BGN/kW, although the difference is very small. However, the average taxi transport licensing fee (328 BGN a year) was considerably lower, in comparison with 498 BGN for the country as a whole; a possible reason may have been the absence of taxi service in most municipalities in the district. The annual licensing fee for retail trade was much lower too: an average of 7.97 BGN/sq. m (compared to an average of almost 13 BGN/sq. m for all municipalities in Bulgaria), and with a downward trend. The tax on non-residential property of legal entities (1.75‰, or lower by 0.20‰ than the average rate for the country) was lower too.

Silistra is one of the districts in which cadastral map coverage went through a manifold increase between 2017 and 2018: from 16 to 88%. The other indicators for the quality of the local administration, however, kept lagging behind national average levels: for example, e-government services offered by municipal administrations in the district were assessed at an average of 2.91 points out of 5, whereas the provision of one-stop-shop services was at 2.44. The AIP Active transparency rating of local government was also quite low: 63% (versus an average of 71% for the country as a whole).

Within a decade the natural population growth in Silisra decreased twofold: from –5.3‰ in 2009 to –10.5‰ in 2018. By contrast, migration processes are not very intensive; the district has been losing population but the net migration in 2018 was only –1.2‰ with a tendency for the number of those who settled in the district with the number of those who moved out to even out. The age dependency ratios, however, suggest population ageing to be faster than the national average pace.
The only district with a lower level of urbanization in the country is Kardzhali; the share of urban population in Silistra reached 44.3% in 2018, and retained a slight tendency to decline from the last decade. At the same time, the urban territories themselves are not too densely populated with 800 people/sq. km, their density going down consistently in recent years.

In Silistra there is only one branch of a tertiary education institution (Ruse University). The number of students is low, fluctuating between 2 and 4 per 1,000 people in recent years. After Dobrich, Silistra is the district with the poorest enrolment rate in school education: in 2018, only 80% of children from the relevant age group were enrolled in 5th–8th grade, or 7 p.p. below the national average level. In spite of the low enrolment rate, the relative number of teachers was close to the national average – 85 teachers per 1,000 pupils, as the increase in recent years is a consequence of a shrinking number of pupils. It seems worth noting that the share of repeaters in Silistra, 0.34%, is almost three times lower than the national average rate. However, the share of dropouts from education is slightly higher than the average rate: 3.5% compared to the national average rate at a little under 3%. The last few years have seen a considerable decline in average grades at matriculation exams: in the 2018/2019 school year, the average was “good” 3.77 (compared to “good” 4.06 for Bulgaria as a whole). Almost one fifth of the grades at the matriculation exam were poor.

There are 1,998 people per GP in the district of Silistra and 512 people per medical specialist. These indicators point to healthcare being slightly more accessible in the district than national average. There are fewer beds in general hospitals, 4.39 per 1,000 people versus 5.34 nationwide, but their number is on a gradual increase. Morbidity is above average: in 2018 hospitalized patients were 218 per 1,000 people. Health insurance coverage was similar to the average rate for the country: 87% of the total population. Unlike most economically underdeveloped districts, the infant mortality is at a relatively low rate of 3.7‰ versus the national average rate at 5.8‰. Yet, the indicator has had extremely uneven dynamics over the years.

SIlistra has the most efficient judiciary in Bulgaria after Razgrad with 97% of criminal cases closed within three months in 2018. The share of pending cases was also very low: only 4.5% of cases for the year. This can be explained to a considerable extent with the fact that judge workloads were not particularly high: each worked an average of 6.9 cases a month (versus 9.2 nationally, and over 10 in busier districts). The district was also characterized by relatively low crime rates; in 2018 the registered crimes against the person and property were 7.1 per 1,000 people. The registered crime detection rate of 65% was also above average for Bulgaria.

In recent years Silistra has significantly lowered the amount of household waste generated in the district; in 2018 it reached 402 kg/person per annum, slightly below the national average level. Because of the low economic activity in the district there were also relatively low levels of harmful emissions: 12 tons of carbon dioxide / sq. km. As a consequence of the low urbanization in the district a relatively small share of the population lives in areas with public sewerage. Despite drastic improvements since 2014, the share of population with access to sewerage connected with wastewater treatment plants was also considerably below average: 44% in the district versus 63% in the country.

According to NSI data, in 2018 there were no registered cinema visits in the district – perhaps because the last cinema there was closed. There was no particular interest in theaters with 236 registered visits per 1,000 people (versus 340 visits on average nationally). It was libraries that enjoyed the greatest interest: 493 visits per 1,000 people, though the indicator’s value was once again below national average. Museum visits were over three times fewer than the national average rate.