Veliko Tarnovo Population (2013) 252 353 Area (sq. km.) 4 661.6 Number of settlements 337 Share of urban population (%) 69.9 Overview The gross domestic product per capita in the district of Veliko Tarnovo is slightly higher than the country’s average, and the employment rate remains low. Even though the relatively small amount of attracted foreign investments constitute the main constriction before the economy growth, the two-digit growth rate thereof, for the past two years, could mark a positive reversal. Local taxes and charges are relatively high. The demographic development of Veliko Tarnovo, which population has decreased, feature the trends of a diminishing population as well. Education, the environment and the social environment remain traditionally the best-performing indicators for Veliko Tarnovo District. For a successive year, Veliko Tarnovo District has ranked No. 1 in Bulgaria with regard to the proportion of students at colleges and universities to the local population. Notwithstanding the hardships, citizens have stated that they have rather been satisfied with the most aspects of life in the district. Weak Unsatisfactory Average Good Very Good Economy Taxes and Administration Infrastructure Demography Education Healthcare Environment Social Environment 135 Economy Veliko Tarnovo District has continued to lag behind relative to the leading districts in Bulgaria, in respect of GDP per capita. Its rate was 6,539 BGN per capita in 2011, the average for the country being 10,248 BGN (6,924 BGN excluding Sofia City). The employment rate of the population aged 15+ retained its level from 2012 and it was 42.9% in 2013, being under Bulgaria’s average of 46.9%. Nonetheless, these values demonstrate slow recovery following a drop in the employment rate, which was one of the lowest in the country, to 38.9% in 2010. Simultaneously, the unemployment rate continued to increase in 2013 as well, and it was 16.2% among the population aged 15+. This demonstrates the gradual transition of the population capable of working from the group of ‘economically inactive people’ to the group of ‘active people’, which also implies a decrease in the number of discouraged people on the labour market. Cumulative foreign direct investments in non- financial enterprises reached 330.7 euros per capita in 2012 (a total of 84 million euros as at 31 December 2012). Investments started to grow in 2011 and 2012, following the drop at the beginning of the crisis, and have exceeded 15%, while the average growth rate for the country was 0.4% in 2011 and 2% in 2012. The services sector has continually been registered as a leading one in the district’s economy. It has accounted for 75% of the total amount of the gross value added produced in the district in recent years. Tourism is a main industry that has developed relatively steadily. The city of Veliko Tarnovo is the main tourist destination in the district, but the municipalities of Elena and Svisthov also attract a big part of the tourist flow. Veliko Tarnovo District’s municipalities have drawn down 466.9 BGN per capita as beneficiaries under EU operational programmes, the country’s average being 379.8 BGN per capita as at 31 January 2014. The municipalities of Lyaskovets and Pavlikeni have featured the highest amounts of paid sums under contracts (771.5 BGN and 553.2 BGN per capita respectively), and the municipalities of Polski Trambesh and Suhindol have reported the least amounts of drawn down sums (41.2 BGN and 39.6 BGN per capita respectively). Taxes and administration The total of local taxes and charges, included in the survey and imposed by the municipalities in Veliko Tarnovo District, is higher than Bulgaria’s average. The businesses’ assessments about the efficiency and the interaction of local government bodies and the efficiency of judicial authorities have been below the country’s average. The data from the survey demonstrate a relatively better knowledge and use of local government e-services. 2014 Active Transparency Rating of local government bodies by the "Access to Information Program" Foundation (AIP) rank Veliko Tarnovo District below the average level and far away from the maximal transparency. The municipalities of Gorna Oryahovitsa and Strazhitsa have performed best, while the municipalities of Lyaskovets and Polski Trambesh have shown relatively poor results. Infrastructure Veliko Tarnovo is one of the districts featuring the highest road and railway network density. The road network is 20.1 km per 100 sq. km of territory, the country’s average being 17.7 km per 100 sq. km of territory, and the railway network is 5.1 km per 100 sq. km of territory, the country’s average being 3.7 km per 100 sq. km of territory. Nevertheless, 25.7% of roads are good while the share of roads in good condition is generally about 40% for the country. The survey has shown that every second citizen residing in Veliko Tarnovo District had been dissatisfied with the infrastructure (transport, roads and telecommunication) while every third citizen had been dissatisfied at national level. 46.6% of households in the district of Veliko Tarnovo had access to the internet in 2013, and the relative share of people (aged 16 to 74) that have used Internet for the past year was 54.5%. The average values for Bulgaria were 53.7% and 56.2% respectively, i.e. the district has lagged behind in terms of both indicators. Nonetheless, the trends are positive and new technologies penetrate both the entire country and Veliko Tarnovo District. Demographics Veliko Tarnovo District is the ninth district in Bulgaria, in terms of the number of the population, with 252,000 people. In line with the demographic crisis in Bulgaria, the population of Veliko Tarnovo District has continued to diminish – the number of people living in the district has decreased by 26,000 for the past five years. This has been due to both the negative natural increase since 2006 (minus 6.9‰ in 2009) and the negative net migration rate (minus 2.7‰ in 2013). Nevertheless, the natural increase rate improved by 1‰ in 2013, and the 136 net emigration has diminished, which is a good sign of the demographic situation in the district. Ageing of the population poses another problem in the demographic development of Veliko Tarnovo District. The age dependency ratio (65+ to 0-14) was 175.7% in 2013 (142.3% average for the country), and the ratio 65+ to 15-64 was 32.4% (29.3 average for the country). The coefficient of demographic replacement (the relation between the population aged 15–19 and the one aged 60–64) has been 55.1%, which means that 55 new people per 100 retired persons will be joining the workforce over the next few years. For comparison, the average rate for the country is 61.5%. Education Featuring three universities and more than 27,000 students, Veliko Tarnovo District has ranked first in the country for a consecutive year in a row, in terms of the number of students at colleges and universities per thousand people – 107, the average being 40 for Bulgaria and 88 for Sofia (capital) that ranked second in 2013. The relative share of graduates aged 25-64 was slightly higher than the country’s average – 26.6%, Bulgaria’s average being 25.6%, which proves that a big part of graduates have left the district following the completion of their studies. Nonetheless, a positive trend has featured for last two years and the population with tertiary education has increased by five percentage points. The enrolment rate of the population (grades 5th through 8th) is 80.6%, which is higher than Bulgaria’s average of 79.7%. The relative share of repeaters within the district has been 0.7%, 1% being the average for the country. Despite these good figures for this district, the share of dropouts from primary and secondary education has been high (3.1% to 2.3% for the country in 2012), and the 5.5% has been the proportion of failed students at state matriculation exams, the national average being 4.8%. Healthcare Healthcare in Veliko Tarnovo District could be regarded as unsatisfactory based on the surveyed indicators. The number of health insured persons has continued to drop, reaching 82.2% in 2013, which was the lowest rate in the country (86%). Beds in multi-profile hospitals for active medical treatment, and also the number of general practitioners, continued to decrease in 2013. Simultaneously, 146.9 per thousand people were accepted for treatment, the national average being 219.9 per thousand people, which could be due to both the relatively low percentage of health insured persons and the high share of people from the district, who prefer to use healthcare elsewhere. 43.4% have travelled out of the district to utilise healthcare, which is 10 percentage points more than Bulgaria’s average. More than 50% of citizens who had travelled and had participated in the survey have stated the deficiency of specialists as a main cause for that, which is confirmed by the national statistics. The local strategy has considered the increase of vacant medical practices in smaller municipalities, and the emergency assistance is insufficient and cannot cover all scattered settlements. Environment Citizens of Veliko Tarnovo District consider the environmental quality as slightly better than the country’s average. Carbon dioxide emissions have considerably diminished in recent years: from 186.6 tonnes per sq. km in 2010 to 119.2 tonnes per sq. km in 2012, or a decrease of 36%. Attention has been paid to the disclosed excess of the daily average and annual average rates of particulate matter in the regional strategy of Veliko Tarnovo District, and transport and solid fuel heating have been specified as the reason thereof.