site.btaBulgaria Records Lowest Share of People Unable to Heat Homes Adequately Since Joining EU

The share of Bulgarians who were unable to keep their homes adequately warm in 2025 fell to 16.1%, down 2.9 percentage points from 2024, according to Eurostat data.

Figures published on Eurostat’s website on Monday show that this is the lowest level recorded for Bulgaria since data collection began in 2005, when 69.5% of the population were unable to keep their homes warm enough.

2025 marked the ninth consecutive year in which the share of people in Bulgaria unable to adequately heat their homes declined.

Following Bulgaria’s accession to the European Union in 2007, this share gradually decreased despite some fluctuations, falling from 67.4% in 2007 to 46.5% in 2012 and 36.5% in 2017.

The downward trend has continued every year since 2017, the Eurostat data show. 

In 2023, Bulgaria was no longer the EU Member State with the highest proportion of people unable to heat their homes adequately for the first time, with Spain and Portugal recording higher shares. However, in 2024 Bulgaria once again ranked at the top of this negative indicator, sharing the position with Greece at 19% each.

In 2024, 9.2% of the EU population was not able to keep their home adequately warm. Compared with 2023, this represents an improvement of 1.4 percentage point.

Besides Bulgaria and Greece, the highest rates were observed in Lithuania (18%) and Spain (17.5%).

By contrast, the lowest shares were reported in Finland (2.7%), Poland and Slovenia (3.3% each), and Estonia and Luxembourg (3.6% each).