Five out of the seven European regions with the lowest living standards are in Bulgaria, Eurostat data show.

In 2017, regional GDP per capita, expressed in terms of purchasing power standards, ranged from 31 percent of the European Union average in the Bulgarian region of North-West, to 626 percent of the average in Inner London - West in the United Kingdom, Eurostat data indicate.

The lowest regions in the ranking include also Bulgaria’s South-Central (34), North-Eastern (39), South-Western (39), South-Eastern (43 percent of the EU average). In Bulgaria’s North-West, GDP per capita for 2017 was a mere 4,600 euro, and 3.486 billion euro in total (6.7 percent share in the national GDP). In the South-Western region of Bulgaria, GDP per capita was 11,700 and 24.742 billion euro in total (47.9 percent share in the national GDP)