Shumen District KAOLINOVO Venets Nikola Kozlevo Hitrino NOVI > Population (2014) 177,493 PAZAR > Area (sq. km) 3,389.7 SHUMEN KASPICHAN VELIKI > Number of settlements 152 PRESLAV > Share of urban population (%) 62.4 SMYADOVO Varbitsa Overview humen District was severely impacted by the cri- e-services and the lack of transparency in the local ad- Ssis in 2009. GDP per capita exceeded its pre-crisis ministration. level in 2011, while the nominal economic growth Population ageing is commensurate with the national surged in 2011 and 2012, surpassing the national av- average. The University of Shumen has continued to erage. Incomes and salaries have remained relatively attract students, but the figures for university gradu- low. Shumen ranks third in Bulgaria among the high- ates among the population show that most leave the est unemployment districts, but this situation has been district after graduating. The relatively small number partly offset by employment nearing the country aver- of crimes against property registered in the district is ages. The district still fails to attract considerable for- probably the reason for the relatively quick ruling on eign investment and part of the reason could be the criminal cases. The district reported improvement in low quality of infrastructure, the poor development of the field of culture. 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 Shumen District 81 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Income and Living Conditions Notwithstanding the acceleration of economic growth municipalities of Kaolinovo and Vrabnitsa have drawn in 2011 and 2012, GDP per capita has remained consid- down least funds. It should be noted that no municipal- erably lower than the country average. In line with the ity in Shumen District has utilised less than 100 BGN per lower aggregate production per capita, incomes and capita under operational programmes. salaries of the district’s residents have also been lower than their national counterparts. The average annual income per household member was 4,387 BGN in Shu- men District in 2014 compared to the country average Infrastructure of 4,813 BGN, and the annual gross salary was 7,405 BGN The density of the road and railway networks is higher compared to 9,301 BGN for Bulgaria. than the country averages, but the quality of roads re- More than half the population lived in material depriva- mains relatively low. 35.1% of roads were in good condi- tion in 2012, thus ranking the district eighth in Bulgaria tion in 2014, a slight deterioration in comparison with concerning this indicator. The share of the population 2013, and lower by 5 pp than the country average. living in households with low work intensity is also high- The share of households with internet access was low- er than the country average. er than the national average in 2014 (48.2% compared to 57%), and so was the share of people who had used the Internet in the past 12 months (51% compared to Labour Market 59%). Shumen District had the third highest unemployment rate in Bulgaria in 2014 after the districts of Silistra and Vidin – 21.1% compared to the country average of 11.4%. Yet, Shumen District is characterized by con- Taxes and Fees siderably higher economic activity, unlike the other two districts (59.8% compared to the country average Most local taxes and fees in the municipalities of Shu- of 54.1%). Employment is close to the country average men District are commensurate with the national aver- rates, while high unemployment in Silistra and Vidin has ages. The annual license tax for retailers is much lower – been accompanied by low employment. Moreover, Shu- the average rate in 2015 is about 9 BGN per sq. m, while men District reached the highest employment rate for the country average is 13 BGN per sq. m (it reaches 20 the past 15 years in 2014. BGN per sq. m in some municipalities located on the Black Sea coast and the capital city). This difference is Shumen had the fifth highest demographic replace- mainly due to the municipalities of Nikola Kozlevo and ment rate in 2014 (67.6% compared to the country aver- Varbitsa, which sustain some of the lowest rates in 2015 age of 61.9%), which demonstrates that a relatively high – 3 BGN per sq. m. The annual waste collection charge number of young people (aged 15–19) is going to join for properties of legal entities is relatively low in 2015. the labour market, compared to those who will leave it (60–64). Investment Administration Shumen is one of the districts with the lowest number of non-financial companies relative to the population Shumen District, along with Vidin District, has the lowest and the lowest volume of domestic and foreign invest- development of local government e-services in Bulgaria. ment, also relative to the population. Although FDIs per One-stop shop services are also below the country aver- capita had increased following the severe slump during age and have not improved in recent years. the crisis, they remained five times lower in 2013 than The share of territory included in cadastral maps is the country average. slightly higher than the country average of 18.1% – EU funds under operational programmes amounting 19.8%, without change since 2010. to almost 100 m BGN were paid to the municipalities Shumen District is among the five districts with the in Shumen District as of 31 January 2015, which was lowest Active Transparency Rating of local government commensurate with the national indicator, in propor- bodies by the AIP Foundation. The municipalities of Var- tion to the population. The municipalities of Novi Pazar bitsa and Venets got the lowest grade in this respect and and Veliki Preslav have utilised most funds (1,584 BGN the municipality with the highest grade, Veliki Preslav, per capita, 1,127 BGN per capita respectively), and the did not exceed the country average. 82 Regional Profiles 2015 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT Demography Security and Justice The ageing of Shumen District’s population has followed A relatively high number of crimes against the person the common national trend. The ratios of the population were registered in Shumen District in 2014 – 6.5 per aged 65+ to that aged 0–15 and to the number of people 10,000 people. Simultaneously, the number of regis- of working age are slightly more favourable compared tered crimes against property has remained relatively to the country averages. The rate of natural increase and low and Shumen was one of the five districts with the the net migration rate deteriorated in 2014; the first one lowest number of such crimes in 2014 (in proportion to reached –6.3‰, and the second one switched from posi- the population). tive to negative value. The district was one of the few The workload of judges trying criminal cases is low- with a positive net inflow of migrants from other dis- er than the country average – 7.3 cases per judge per tricts in 2012 and 2013, but it reported a negative net month in Shumen District, compared to the country av- migration rate of 0.1‰ in 2014. erage of 8.3, which presumably brings about relatively The share of urban population is smaller than the coun- quick ruling on cases. 93% of criminal cases were closed try average (62% compared to the country average of in the first 3 months in 2013 (88% for Bulgaria) and the 73%), and the data on population density, relative to the share of pending cases was 6.5% compared to the coun- territory of settlements, rank Shumen District among try average of 8.5%. the top five districts with lowest population density. Education Environment The University of Shumen predetermines the good perfor- mance of the district in number of students in proportion The concentration of harmful emissions in Shumen Dis- to the population. 7,388 students were enrolled in 2014, trict was 10 times lower than the country average. While or 42 students per 1,000 people compared to the country emissions of carbon dioxide were 29 t/sq. km in the dis- average of 38 per 1,000 people. The share of people with trict in 2013, the country average was 294 t/sq. km. tertiary education increased to about one fifth of the pop- In spite of the high grade for the clean air, the district’s ulation in 2014 but remained below the country average, performance in this category was not very good in 2013, meaning that a considerable part of students abandons because of the small number of people with access to the district following the completion of their education. public sewerage systems connected to waste water The school enrolment rate (grades 5th through 8th) is treatment plants (44.8% compared to the country aver- above the national average but has continually dropped age of 56.4%), as well as the small number of people liv- in recent years, following the nationwide trend. Students ing in settlements with public sewerage systems (59.5% from Shumen District have performed worse at state ma- compared to the nationwide figure of 74.7%). It is ex- triculation exams than their peers from the other districts. pected that the Integrated Water Cycle of Shumen City project will be completed in 2015, improving the water supply and sewerage services in the district. Healthcare Although the number of general practitioners, com- pared to the district’s population, equals the country average, there is a serious insufficiency of certain health Culture professionals.