Articles

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF BULGARIA

Nadezhda Ivanova — Economic Research Institute аt BAS
Published: 17.10.2023

Abstract

In 2015 Bulgaria expressed its support for adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. As the deadline for its implementation approaches, considering the highest order of the objective of achieving sustainable development, the question of what is the current level of sustainable development of our country in absolute and relative terms – compared to other EU member states, what are the trends and prospects for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 is becoming more relevant. The answer to this question is provided by the present study, which presents the most frequently used complex indicators for determining the level of sustainable development, as well as the position, value and change in indicators for the level of sustainable development of Bulgaria according to the seventeen Global Goals adopted by the UN. Among the main results of the publication, it stands out that for all three general indicators for sustainable development – the Human Development Index, the Social Progress Index and the Sustainable Development Goals Index, as well as regarding the status and changes for Bulgaria in terms of the realization of the individual Sustainable Development Goals (according to three different methodologies, within three different reports) Bulgaria is far from the average European level and in the last position among the EU member states. Our country is still far from fulfilling the Global Goals, the direction of change for most goals is positive, although not at a sufficiently good pace to reach them in 2030.

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