Burgas District Ruen SUNGURLARE AYTOS NESEBAR KARNOBAT POMORIE > Population (2014) 414,33535 KAMENO BURGAS > Area (sq. km) 7,748.18.1 SOZOPOL > Number of settlements 26161 SREDETS PRIMORSKO > Share of urban population (%) 74.94.9 TSAREVO MALKO TARNOVO Overview he economy of Burgas is among the best devel- compared to the rest of the country; this is one of the Toped in Bulgaria. Incomes in the district lag be- small number of districts featuring a positive net mi- hind, though salaries have risen in recent years. The gration rate of the population. Indicators for school economic activity of the population and the employ- education have slightly worsened – the share of drop- ment rate recovered from 2011 to 2014, and the unem- outs and repeaters has risen, and so have failures at ployment rate shrank in 2014. Burgas District features the state matriculation exams. The share of graduates high inflow of foreign capitals and a very good draw- in the workforce remains low in comparison with the down of EU funds on behalf of municipalities. Some lo- country average. Burgas is among the districts with cal taxes in resort municipalities remain high. There are the highest crime rates. Expenditure on environmental also problems with administrative services. protection has considerably increased, which is related The demographic challenges are not that exacerbated to the good drawdown of EU funds. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT Weak Unsatisfactory Average Good Very good Weak Unsatisfactory Average Good Very good Income and Living Conditions Demography Labor Market Education Investment Healthcare Infrastructure Security and Justice Taxes and Fees Environment Administration Culture Burgas District 25 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Income and Living Conditions Infrastructure GDP per capita in Burgas was 9,375 BGN in 2012, which The road network density in Burgas District is not very ranked Burgas the fifth richest district in Bulgaria. In- high, but the Trakia highway, completed in 2013, has in- comes in the district have slightly lagged behind coun- creased the district’s potential. The quality of the high- try average figures, but comparatively high incomes way is very good though generally road condition in from pensions are noted. The annual gross salary per the district poses a challenge: barely 35% of the roads employed person rose to reach 8,212 BGN in 2013. were in good condition at the end of 2014. The railway In 2012, 43.1% of the district’s residents lived in material network density is low, and railway transport serves the deprivation, i.e. they faced difficulties in meeting their lines to the inland parts of Bulgaria, not to the seaside basic needs. The relative share of the poor compared to holiday villages. In 2014, a little over half of the house- the district’s poverty line increased in 2012 to 19.3% but holds had access to the Internet though Internet use re- remained lower than the country average. The income mained low: 48.6% of people aged 16–74 used the Inter- inequality slightly increased as well and the ratio be- net for the past 12 months. tween the incomes of the richest and the poorest 20% of households was 6.8 times in 2012. Taxes and Fees In 2015, the taxes on non-residential properties of com- panies were relatively low in the municipalities of Nese- bar (1.2‰), Karnobat (1.4‰), Burgas (1.45‰), Aytos Labour Market (1.5‰) and Sozopol (1,5‰). Most of the municipalities The economic activity in Burgas District recovered from in the district, including Nesebar, Pomorie and Sozopol 2011 to 2013 and preserved levels higher than the coun- impose a 3.0% tax on the sale of property, which is high try average – the economic activity rate of the popula- compared to the country data. This rate is 2.5% in the tion 15+ was 54.7% in 2014. The employment rate rose district centre of Burgas. Vehicle taxes are high. Annual to reach 48.6% in 2014, nearing the record pre-crisis lev- licence taxes for retailers are also comparatively high, els (49.1% in 2008). A drop in the unemployment rate which is triggered by the large number of holiday vil- which shrank to 11% and remained below Bulgaria’s av- lages in the district. erage was noted in 2014. Waste charges for legal entities are rather low in the The demographic replacement rate was about 66% municipalities of Pomorie (4,0‰), Tsarevo (4,0‰), in 2014: there were 66 people aged 15–19 joining the Nesebar (5,4‰) and Primorsko (5.5‰), and high in Ay- workforce per 100 people aged 60–64, leaving it. tos (12,0‰), Sredets (12‰) and Sozopol (10,0‰). The waste collection charge is 7.9‰ in the district centre of Burgas. Administration Investment Several municipalities in Burgas District have per- As at the end of 2013, Burgas District ranked second, fol- formed relatively well in services rendered by elec- lowing the capital city, in terms of accrued foreign direct tronic means and serving at one-stop counter (as per investments. The number of non-financial companies 2015 data). The services rendered by electronic means increased in 2012 and 2013. Expenditure on the acquisi- are developed in the municipalities of Burgas, Ruen tion of FTAs also considerably increased in the district and Sozopol. The one-stop counter is well organised in and they reached 1.9 billion BGN in 2013. the municipalities of Aytos, Burgas, Kameno, Karnobat The municipalities of Burgas District feature a very good and Ruen. In 2014, the cadastral map covered 16.3% of drawdown of EU funds. The total of sums paid under the district’s territory – the municipalities of Burgas, contracts with municipalities as beneficiaries under op- Malko Tarnovo, Nesebar, Primorsko and Tsarevo are erational programmes were 477 m BGN as of January better covered by it. 2015. The district centre of Burgas drew down funds ex- The municipalities in Burgas District improved their tremely well (254 m BGN), just like the municipalities of 2015 Active Transparency Rating of local government Sozopol (46 m BGN), Primorsko (17 m BGN), Nesebar (52 bodies by the AIP Foundation. The best performing mu- m BGN), Pomorie (39 m BGN), Malko Tarnovo (5 m BGN) nicipalities in terms of this rating are Burgas, Karnobat, and Ruen (29 m BGN). Primorsko and Sozopol. 26 Regional Profiles 2015 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT Demography The population of Burgas District was 414,335 people trict. The infant mortality rate slightly increased in 2014 in 2014, which ranks it fourth in Bulgaria. About three reaching 8.1‰. quarters of the district’s residents live in towns and cit- ies. The population of Burgas District has retained un- changed levels for the past two years (2013–2014) which Security and Justice was determined by the steady rate of natural decrease Burgas District remains one of the most insecure dis- (–3,2‰ in 2014) and by the steady positive net migra- tricts in Bulgaria, though the number of crimes against tion rate (2.5‰ in 2014 г.). the property has decreased for the past year. 7.4 crimes Age dependency ratios have followed the negative na- against individuals and 117.2 crimes against property tionwide trends, but have been more favourable than per 10,000 people were registered in 2014. In compari- elsewhere. In 2014 the population aged 65+ was 1.2 son, similar levels of the latter type of crimes have been times more than the number of children (aged up to 14) observed only in the capital city and Varna District. Si- and reached about 25% of the working population (15– multaneously, it could be concluded from the data that 64). The birthrate was 10.2‰ in 2014, one of the highest courts work relatively efficiently and quickly. In 2013 the in Bulgaria. share of criminal cases, tried by the District Court and closed in the first 3 months, was 90%, and the share of Education pending criminal cases was 7.3% at the end of 2013, the country average being 8.5%. The judges’ workload de- The number of students in Burgas District slightly in- creased in recent years in Burgas District, reaching 7.7 creased in recent years (2012–2014) and the number cases per judge per month compared to 8.3 cases per of teachers remained relatively low: 15.2 students per judge per month in 2013. teacher were reported in 2014. The net enrolment rate in classes V–VIII dropped to 78.5% (2014). Despite being relatively good in comparison with the country average, Environment the indicators regarding dropouts and repeaters deteri- Burgas District is not on the list of districts with the high- orated: the share of dropouts from primary and second- est concentration of harmful emissions; carbon dioxide ary schools increased to 2,0% (2013), and the share of emissions were about 90 t/sq. km in 2013. Household repeaters increased to 1.1% in 2014. The average grade waste collected per capita of serviced population in- at state matriculation exams was 4.22 in 2015 and the creased in 2013 and remained above the average coun- percentage of failed students was 7.1%. try levels – approximately 519 kg per individual from the There were about 9,000 university students in Burgas in serviced population. 2014, and the institutions of higher education constitute Slightly over 75% of the population lived in settlements a factor for attracting the young to the district centre. with public sewerage systems in 2013, and 61.2% of However, the share of graduates in the workforce re- it had access to sewage connected with waste water mains low: in 2014, 18.8% of the population aged 25–64 treatment plants.