MATERIAL STANDARD OF LIVING AND ENERGY POVERTY IN BULGARIA: STATE AND DEVELOPMENT.

The report examines the territorial disparities in the standard of living at the level of European Union, regions and districts in Bulgaria. The standard of living is defined and assessed from the point of view of material living conditions, which include a number of indicators grouped in three thematic areas: economic development, income and consumption, inequality and poverty. Appropriate statistical indicators are used to assess disparities, and a specific methodology is applied for the assessment of the standard of living, that allows territorial units to be ranked according to the distance from the best value. The results of the empirical study for 2010-2017 show: (a) a low level of the standard of living in Bulgaria compared to the EU countries (28); (b) the disparities between the regions in the country are slightly diminishing and between the districts are preserved; (c) there are significant changes in the ranking of the regions and the districts. Energy poverty is studied and assessed on the basis of indicators identified by the "expenditure method" and the so-called "consensual method". The results for 2014-2016 show: (a) a growing range of energy poverty across all indicators; (b) Bulgaria is lagging behind the other EU member states in limiting energy poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]