Bulgaria is in first place among the member states of the European Union in terms of the share of people who cannot keep their homes adequately warm – 22.5 percent – this is according to the latest Eurostat data for 2022. On average for the population of the Union, this indicator is 9 percent.
Among the countries with the largest share of people who cannot keep their home adequately warm, apart from Bulgaria, are also Cyprus and Greece – with nearly 19 percent of the population, Spain – 17 percent and Romania – 15 percent. In contrast, the lowest share of these people is Finland – with just over 1% and Luxembourg with 2%.
Compared to 2021, Eurostat reports an increase of around 2 percentage points in the number of people in the Union who say they cannot keep their home adequately warm.
According to experts from the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria, there are many reasons why more than 20% of the population in Bulgaria, or one in five, cannot keep their home warm – low incomes, high electricity prices, low energy efficiency.