Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Bulgarians’ biggest fears are of illness, poverty and war: Survey

Photo: pixabay

The biggest fears Bulgarians have is that they or their family members could fall ill – 43.3%, or fall into poverty – 36.7%. These fears come before war – 33.5%, which is in third position, indicate the results of a representative survey by ESTAT sociological agency conducted in February 2024. Fear of refugees stands at a mere 2%, and 2.7% say they are worried about the environment. 7.7% say they are afraid of natural calamities and disasters. ESTAT director Ivo Zhelev comments, for 24 Chasa daily, that the “top three of Bulgarians’ fears” is similar to the fears all people around the world have.

“Modern fears like terrorism, migrants, ecology, environmental pollution give way to existential fears,” he says. “Interestingly, fear of heights, of flying, of insects and animals is comparable to fear of terrorism – at around 5-6%. Fear of the future is expressed by 4.8%. The introduction of the Euro scares under 2% of Bulgarians. Very few people say they are afraid of road accidents or of the demographic crisis in the country. The popular fears of AI are not very widespread in society in Bulgaria at 0.9%, reaching 2.3% among the young. No fear of hunger exists. 0.1% say they have respect “of God”. Out of 1,008 respondents over 18 included in the survey, 6.2% say they are afraid of nothing.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Fourth no-confidence motion against Rosen Zhelyazkov’s cabinet to be voted on Friday

On Friday, the National Assembly will vote on a no-confidence motion against the cabinet of Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov over ''failures in environmental and water policy''. The fourth no-confidence motion against the current government was tabled..

published on 7/9/25 6:09 PM

Albania's National Assembly Speaker Elisa Spiropali visits Bulgaria

The Speaker of the   Parliament of  Albania, Elisa Spiropali, has arrived in Bulgaria for an official visit. The two-day visit is at the invitation of National Assembly Speaker Natalia Kiselova . Elisa Spiropali was welcomed at the airport by the..

published on 7/9/25 5:48 PM

National Assembly reduces tuition fees at first reading

Tuition fees at state universities should not exceed 75% of the expenses for the training. This was what MPs decided with amendments to the Higher Education Act adopted on Wednesday at first reading. It is expected that after the..

published on 7/9/25 4:08 PM