Vratsa

After a high and stable growth of GDP in the previous few years, in 2019 it decreased by 12% to 13,300 BGN/person, thus falling further behind the national average of 17,200 BGN/person. Vratsa is one of the two districts (along with Stara Zagora) in which GDP per capita has shrunk, against a 10% growth in the country on average. At the same time, however, salaries and incomes in the district continue to grow at a rate faster than the national average, although they remain below the average levels. The gross annual salary of employees has reached 13,900 BGN, compared to 15,200 BGN in the country. Poverty in the district remains relatively high.

The labor market indicators for 2020 place Vratsa district in an unfavorable position. Economic activity remained relatively low – 67.4%, compared to 73.7% in the country, and it even shrank slightly compared to the previous year. The employment rate declined, while the unemployment rate rose to almost twice the national average. The employment rate was down to 57.1%, compared to 68.5% in the country, and the unemployment rate – 10.3%, compared to 5.2% in the country. Among the challenges that keep facing the local labor market are the relatively low level of education of the workforce and population ageing. The number of university graduates among the population aged 25–64 has risen to 22.9%, but their share remains below the national average of 29.2%. At the same time, the number of people with primary or lower education has increased to 22.4%, compared to 16.9% in the country. The labor market is affected by population ageing as well. The demographic replacement rate as a ratio of the population aged 15–19 to that aged 60–64 in the district is 65.4%, compared to 67.1% in the country. This means that for every 100 people who will have to leave the labor market in the next few years, there are 65 young people who will join the workforce.

Economic and investment activity in Vratsa district remained relatively low in 2019. The relative number of non-financial enterprises was 38 per 1,000 persons, against 61 per 1,000 persons as the national average. Typical of FTA expenditure acquisition rates in the district are significant drops and increases. In 2019 they fell by 10% to 1,513 BGN/person, which is half the national figure of 3,155 BGN/person. A shrinkage by 23% was noticeable in the stock of FDI, which were now 7 times lower than the national average – 505 EUR/person in the district, against 3,655 EUR/person in the country. Despite these decreases, production value in Vratsa district continued to rise at a rate that was even higher than in the country on average. It amounted to 17,600 BGN/person, against 28,000 BGN/person as the national average. Vratsa is among the top ranking districts in terms of utilization of EU funding.

Vratsa district performs badly as regards the indicators for infrastructural development, and together with Vidin and Montana occupies the bottom three places in the country. The density of the road and railroad networks nearly equals the national averages but road quality remains extremely low. The share of highways and first-class roads is 10%, against 18.5% in the country. In 2019 the share of roads with surfaces in good condition was 28.4%, compared to the national average of 41.4%. It should be noted, however, that compared to the previous two years, road surface quality has improved. In 2020, the relative share of households with internet access in Vratsa district again remained almost unchanged – 71.5%, against the average of 78.9% nationwide. The share of households connected to gas supply was 1.9%, against 3.1% in the country. Installed RES capacity reached 0.382 kW/person, compared to the national average of 0.603 kW/person.

In 2021, the average rate of the local taxes in the district’s municipalities again remained relatively low. The retail trade tax rate in the district was almost half the national average – 6.69 BGN/sq. m, against 12.99 BGN/sq. m nationally. Also lower were the rates for the motor vehicle tax, the tax on non-gratuitous acquisition of property and on taxi transportation. Of the monitored tax rates, only the average one on non-residential immovable property of legal entities was higher than its average counterpart in the country. Within the district, relatively lower local taxes are levied by the municipalities of Krivodol, Hairedin and Vratsa, while the higher ones are in Oryahovo, Byala Slatina and Kozloduy.

Vratsa district registers relatively good results regarding the functioning of its local administration. Cadastral map coverage has been rising fast but is still below the national average. The level of e-government again remained relatively low in 2021, while that of the provision of one-stop shop services remained relatively high. The transparency ratings of the local administration were close to but slightly higher than the national average.

While within the previous ten years the natural population growth rate in the district had remained at relatively stable, though relatively low levels, in 2020 it fell sharply from around –11‰ to –13.9‰, against –9.5‰ in the country on average. At the same time, the net migration rate rose and for the first time its value was positive, reaching 2.3 ‰, which, however, was not enough to compensate for the rapid ageing of the population. The age dependency ratios remained significantly less favorable than the national average. In 2020, the ratio of the population aged 65+ to those aged 0–14 was 177.5%, compared to 150.6% in the country, and to those aged 15–64 it was 40.0%, against 34.1% in the country. The share of urban population remains low – 58.8%, compared to 72.9% in the country, and its density is twice as low as the national average – 756 people/sq. km compared to 1,506 people/sq. km in the country.

The indicators of Vratsa district in the field of primary and secondary education remain relatively good, but the results are relatively low. In 2020 Vratsa again remained among the districts with the highest net enrolment rate in 5th–8th grade – 91.8%, compared to 86.5% in the country. The number of teachers was also higher than the national average – 93 per 1,000 students, versus an average of 87 per 1,000 students nationally. The shares of repeaters and dropouts from primary and secondary education were lower than the average ones – 0.41%, against 0.55% in the country, and 2.3%, versus 2.5% in the country, respectively. The students’ results in 2021 were relatively poor. The average score in the national external examination in mathematics after 7th grade was 30.3 points, compared to 37.9 points nationally. The average score in the State matriculation exam in Bulgarian language and literature was lower than in the previous year, falling to 3.99 versus 4.21 nationally. The number of “fail” (below 3.00) grades increased to 10%, compared to 7% in the country. Vratsa is not among the leaders in the field of higher education, although it is home to two branches of higher education institutions. The number of students in the district is 7 per 1,000 persons, compared to 32 per 1,000 persons countrywide.

The share of health-insured persons in Vratsa district is traditionally higher than the national average, but its healthcare suffers from a shortage of doctors – both GPs and specialist physicians – and of hospital beds. In 2020 the number of beds in the local general hospitals remained almost unchanged, with 4.46 beds per 1,000 persons, while the national average was 5.52 per 1,000 persons. After a three-year steady decrease, in 2020 the infant mortality rate was down to 3.7‰, against 5.1‰ nationwide. However, the number of people treated in the local general hospitals was high – 154 per 1,000 persons, compared to the national average of 138 per 1,000 persons.

The workloads of criminal judges in Vratsa district continued to decrease and in 2020 again remained relatively low, which affected the speedy delivery of justice. In 2020, one local judge heard an average of 6.4 cases a month, compared to 8.6 cases per judge nationally. The proportion of criminal cases closed within 3 months decreased but remained high nevertheless – 93%, against the national average of 90%. Vratsa also remains the district with the smallest share of pending cases – 5%, or half that in the country on average. The registered crimes against the person and property in Vratsa district decreased for the third year in a row but their number again remains among the highest in the country, second only to Montana district – 13 per 1,000 persons, versus 10 per 1,000 persons nationwide. Still, the detection rate in 2020 was higher than the national average, albeit by a small margin – 54.5%, versus the national figure of 52.1%.

In 2019, carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere in the district of Vratsa still remained nearly twice as low as the average ones in Bulgaria. The amounts of waste generated by households also remained relatively smaller – 278 kg/person per annum, versus 409 kg/person in the country. However, the share handed over for treatment and recycling was again lower than the national figures – 67%, versus 71% respectively. The relatively low share of population living in urban areas and the small population density in Vratsa district can account for the limited access of the households to a public sewerage system – 57.8%, compared to the national average of 76.2%. Public sewerage networks with access to wastewater treatment plants are available to 51.4% of the population, compared to the average of 64.6% countrywide.

The low intensity of its cultural life remained a characteristic of Vratsa district in 2020. Due to the pandemic and the restrictions on visits to cultural venues, the numbers of museum and cinema visits fell. The decrease was comparable to that in the country on average, but in absolute values the number of visits in Vratsa district was considerably lower. Visits to the local museums numbered 45 per 1,000 persons, against the average of 322 per 1,000 persons nationwide, and visits to cinemas were 111 per 1,000 persons, compared to 190 per 1,000 persons nationwide.