Northwest Bohemia is the Czech Republic's least educated, most endangered, poorest region, Romani exclusion persists
Czech regions are slowly catching up to the European Union average in terms of development and are coming close to it, although frequently at varying speeds. Of course, there is one exception where it is impossible to speak of progress, but rather of the region persistently falling behind. That is northwestern Bohemia, and its decline is also being pointed out by a recently-released report from the European Commission, "Country Report 2023".
This regular assessment report about the Czech Republic, which is a background material for recommendations on national reforms, is not flattering about northwestern Bohemia.
The 88-page document calculates its findings using partial statistical data from 2020 forward. The Karlovy Vary and Ústecký Regions, which together comprise the EU’s “Northwest” unit, come in last place on the different data rankings for all the crucial parameters.
This fact has been known for years, but the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is currently being added to the mix. For example, in the area of GDP decline, the most developed regions were significantly afflicted by the pandemic (Prague, -6.4 %, Central Bohemia -7.1 %) as were the most impoverished (the Northwest unit, -6.4 %).
Northwest Bohemia, therefore, remains the most impoverished region with the lowest level of added value for employees; the highest emissions burden; the most-endangered by collections proceedings, poverty and unemployment; and the least educated population which is, moreover, the most at risk for leaving primary education (to grade 9) without completing it.
The European Commission report from May of this year has the following to say about northwestern Bohemia in these areas:
Labor market
The proportion of persons endangered by poverty or social exclusion [in the Czech Republic] is one of the lowest in the EU, but for some specific groups (e.g., Romani people, women age 65 and above) and some regions (e.g., the Northwest) it remains high.
Differences between branches of the economy and regions persist. The education and professional preparation system is wrestling with the challenge of how to reduce those socioeconomic inequalities which affect educational outcomes, especially among Romani pupils.
The cited information is from the European Commission’s Czechia 2023 Country Report, which you can find here along with reports on all the other Member States.
Adult participation in education is significantly below the EU average and below the national target for 2030. While 60 % of the population of the Czech Republic has at least basic digital skills, there is a long way to go to achieve the national target in the area of skills by 2030 (80 %). The level of higher education is the lowest in the EU.
The labor market potential of persons who have been displaced from Ukraine is still insufficiently being taken advantage of, as 80 % of workers born in Ukraine remain employed in positions that require a low level of qualification.
Balancing out the differences
The Northwest region is the only one that is not converging toward the EU GDP average (in 2020 that indicator was still below 65 %), which shows its low absorption capacity is contributing to the growing differences between the Northwest and other regions.
In the Czech Republic, the differences among the regions are stable, but continue to be prominent. The country has a highly-developed capital, where GDP per person in 2020 was 203 % of the EU-27 average.
There are six less-developed regions in the rest of the country where the GDP per capita ranges from 73 % to 85 % of the EU average (the NUTS 2 regions of Moravia-Silesia, Central Moravia, Central Bohemia, Southeast, Northeast and Southwest) and a poorer region (Northwest), where the GDP per capita corresponds to 61 % of the EU average.
The Czech regions are catching up to the EU average and are coming close to it, although at different speeds. However, the clear exception is the Northwest region, which is permanently falling behind. GDP per capita in 2021 was 61 % of the EU average there compared to 63 % in 2010.
This difference is also reflected in the values of the Regional Competitiveness Index (RCI). The Northwest has an RCI of 86.6, while the Capital City of Prague Region has an RCI of 114.3.
As a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic and its related measures to prevent the infection from spreading, all Czech regions experienced a decline in GDP per capita in 2019–2020.
The biggest decline was recorded not just in the less-developed region of the Northwest ( -6.4 %), but also in more developed regions such as Central Bohemia ( -7.1 %) or Prague ( -6.4 %). The least afflicted were the moderately developed regions of the Southeast ( -2.5 %) and the Northeast ( -2.0 %). As a consequence, the differences between regions were reduced slightly country-wide.
Human capital
Investments into both human capital and research and development are significantly higher in the Capital City region. The less-developed Northwest region is at the other end of the spectrum.
While in the Capital City region 64.7 % of inhabitants have a higher education, in the Northwest that proportion is just 20.1 %. In 2020, 10.4 % of workers in the Capital City region were employed in branches of highly-developed technologies, but just 2.1 % of workers in the Northwest region were.
Moving residences and poverty
The population has an apparent tendency to concentrate in the richest regions. Between 2011 and 2020 the number of inhabitants rose in all regions with the exception of the three which have the lowest GDP per capita.
The number of inhabitants was reduced by 1.5 % in the Central Moravian region, by 2 % in the Northwest region, and by 3.4 % in the Moravian-Silesian region. However, the increase in the number of inhabitants in the Prague and Central Bohemian regions at that same time was 7.9 % and 10 % respectively, which are values significantly exceeding both the national average (2 %) and the EU average (2 %).
The same pattern of regional variations among less-developed regions and the rest of the regions is also apparent in the proportion of inhabitants at risk of poverty and social exclusion.
However, it is necessary to stress that this proportion is generally low in the Czech Republic (in 2021 it was 10.7 %). In the less-developed regions the proportion was much higher, in Moravia-Silesia it was 14.3 % and in the Northwest region it was 17.8 % (the highest proportion recorded in the Czech Republic), but even in those regions it was still below the EU average.
Inhabitants of the Northwest are also afflicted to a significant degree by collections proceedings and personal bankruptcy. In 2020, more than 15 % of the population of the Northwest region was under collections proceedings, almost double the national average (8 %).
Education
There is a significantly higher risk that pupils from households struggling with the problems of accessing affordable housing and being under collections proceedings will have to repeat grades of primary education or will leave without completing their compulsory school attendance. The Karlovy Vary and Ústecký Regions are especially at risk for this.
The Czech original of this article was produced for the Institute of Independent Journalism, an independent, nonprofit organization and registered institute which produces information, journalism and news reporting. Its analyses, articles and data are equally available to all for use under predetermined conditions.
