Climate and Socioeconomic Determinants of Household Energy Consumption in Bulgaria

This article aims to assess the impact of factors determining final household energy consumption in Bulgaria by integrating economic, demographic, climatic, and price determinants into a unified econometric framework. The theoretical section provides a critical review of existing approaches to modelling household energy consumption and outlines the main limitations of previous studies regarding climate factors and climate policies. The empirical analysis is based on annual data for the period 2006-2024 and includes separate multivariate regression models for electricity, natural gas, firewood, and coal. The results show that heating degree-days, income, the number of households, and their socioeconomic characteristics have a statistically significant impact on energy consumption, with the effects varying substantially across different energy sources. Electricity and natural gas consumption are characterised by positive income elasticity, while firewood and coal behave as inferior goods, and their consumption is strongly linked to energy poverty and climatic conditions. The results contribute to a better understanding of the interplay between climate change, socioeconomic vulnerability, and energy consumption and can support the development of policies for climate change adaptation, energy efficiency, and a just green transition.