Sofia and Bulgaria in the Rankings
Sofia is in the top 3 cities in the category European Cities and Regions of the Future 2020/2021 for the strategy for attracting foreign investment in fDi intelligence’s report European cities and regions of the future 2020-2021. The capital is in top positions in another 4 categories:
- 3rd in the category European City of the Future 2020/21 – Cost Effectiveness
- 6th in the category East-European Regions of the Future 2020/21
- 9th in the category East-European Regions of the Future 2020/21
- Sofia Region is ranked 9th in the category Small European Regions of the Future 2020/21 – Cost Effectiveness
At an official ceremony in the middle of March in Cannes Sofia will receive a certificate for its good positions in the ratings. You can read more on the topic and find a link to the full article here.
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Sofia remains the most economically developed region in the country with GDP per capita which is twice the average for the country (28 465 leva per capita compared to 13 206 per capita leva in the country). There is a drop in unemployment to 2,1%, and the employment rate reaches 74,6% which sets a record for both the capital and country. The data is taken from the latest survey “Regional Profiles: Measurements for Development” of the Institute for Market Economics.
The educational structure of the workforce has continued to improve in the last years. The share of people with higher education in the 25-64 age group is 51% (compared to 28% in the country).
The number of enterprises in the capital continues to grow steadily for a fifth consecutive year and has reached 88 per thousand people. Sofia also remains the region with the highest volume of output per capita.
Sofia attracts the highest number of FDI per capita. Foreign investments in the city are three times higher than in the country – 9 226 euro per capita compared to 3 310 euro per capita. The industry is characterized by high quality, especially in terms of access to high-speed internet.
Compared to the rest of the country, the city maintains relatively high local taxes, especially in retail and taxi services. Due to the high workload of the Sofia Court (the busiest in the country), Sofia has a relatively slow administration of justice process but remains among the regions with the highest ratings of transparency of the local self-government, the study finds.
Sofia’s full profile is available here, and regional profiles and comparisons between different regions you can find here.
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Bulgaria ranks 2nd in the EU in number of women in science and engineering: 52% vs the EU average of 41%, according to Eurostat. The leader is Lithuania with 57% female scientists and engineers, and Bulgaria is followed by Latvia (52%) and Denmark (51%).
In 2018, there were almost 15 million scientists and engineers in the EU – 59% were men, and 41% were women. The complete data is accessible here.
