2024-03-12 08:35:51
In 2023, in 22 municipalities – two more than in 2022 – there is no pharmacy. In another 42 municipalities, there is only one, according to an analysis by the Institute for Market Economy.
The total number of pharmacies for 2023 slightly decreased to 3,252 (from 3,296 in the previous year) according to data from the Medicines Executive Agency (EMA). Their location continues to be concentrated in large municipalities and large settlements – in Sofia there are 725, in Plovdiv – 219, and in Varna – 181. The municipalities without a pharmacy are one of the smallest in the country and in them access to medicines remains strong limited – these are, for example, Treklyano, Antonovo.
The population is best provided with pharmacies in some tourist municipalities – the Black Sea Nessebar, Primorsko and Tsarevo, as well as Bansko. This category also includes the municipality of Chelopech, which has 2 pharmacies serving an average of 725 people. At the other end of the spectrum are municipalities such as Dobrich Selska (where one pharmacy serves 16.6 thousand people), Tunja (which has two pharmacies serving an average of over 10 thousand people), Avren and Jebel, where the available pharmacies serve largest number of population. On average for the country, one pharmacy serves 1,988 people.