Of smoke and silence: energy poverty, digital exclusion, and the rural–urban divide in Eastern Europe

Energy poverty remains a persistent socio-environmental challenge in Eastern Europe, deeply rooted in post-socialist legacies of infrastructural neglect, economic inequality, and inefficient energy systems. Despite growing attention to energy poverty, relatively little is known about its heterogeneous profiles and spatial patterns across Eastern European households. This paper uses Latent Class Analysis (LCA) on microdata from six Eastern European countries — Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic — to identify heterogeneous household profiles and spatial disparities in energy poverty. This methodology captures the multidimensionality of the concept and has been proven effective in other settings. The results highlight a sharp rural–urban divide in energy poverty profiles: rural households are more likely to rely on polluting solid fuels, live in poorly insulated dwellings, and experience limited digital exclusion, whereas urban households are predominantly affected by high energy costs and limited control over heating due to inefficient district heating systems in multi-unit buildings. Internet access is associated with lower levels of vulnerability, suggesting that basic digital inclusion may help reduce informational barriers. Our findings also confirm an association between energy deprivation and adverse health outcomes. These results underline the need for multidimensional, spatially sensitive, and socially inclusive energy and environmental policies in Eastern Europe to address both immediate deprivation and long-term ecological and health implications. By identifying distinct energy poverty profiles rather than relying on a single deprivation indicator, this study provides a more nuanced understanding of vulnerability and offers evidence to support more targeted, spatially sensitive, and socially inclusive energy policies in Eastern Europe.