In Bulgaria 78% of people are exposed to dirty air, while their average share in the EU is 19%. This is what the data showed from the last annual report on the air conditions in Bulgaria of the Executive Environmental Agency (EEA) and from European comparisons of this indicator made by the European Environment Agency to the European Commission, quoted by "Dnevnik" .
The report of the EEA shows also an increase in the amount of dust in the air in the country compared to the previous year.
In Bulgaria, the percentage of the population exposed to excess fine particulate matter (PM10, ie below 10 microns) is well above the average for Europe, where for the period of 2013-2015 it is between 16 and 20%.
According to the comparative table for Europe, the percentage of urban population exposed to over the acceptable norm of (compared to the daily average) pollution levels with PM10 in Bulgaria is 78%. In Slovenia and Malta, 100% of the urban population is exposed. A high percentage - similar to Bulgaria, has both Croatia and Poland - 81%. After that are Italy (60%) and Romania (57%), the urban population exposed to an excess of PM10 fells sharply below 19%, in 10 countries, including Austria, Belgium, Estonia, the indicator was zero. The EU average rate is 19 per cent.