Educational Structure of the Population in Bulgaria and the Countries of Central and Eastern Europe in the Context of the Green Transition and the Youth Unemployment

The aim of the paper is to outline certain characteristics of the educational structure of the population that have advantages for the transition to a green economy and for reducing youth unemployment, and to assess the current situation and trends in the educational structure in Bulgaria and the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries according to these characteristics. The study underlines the advantages of an education structure with a larger share of the population with secondary vocational and higher education and a smaller share of the population with primary and lower level of education. In this context, among the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Slovenia shows the most favourable current educational structure, while Bulgaria has the least favourable, suggesting different advantages for the green transition and easier initial labour market integration.