49.7% of Bulgarians have confidence in the Church, according to data from a nationally representative survey of " "Gallup International Balkan", held for BNT in April. 34.1% admit that they do not trust the institution, and 16.1% cannot give a definite answer, FOCUS reported.
The church is among the institutions that traditionally enjoy high trust among our society. These attitudes have remained stable in recent years, with trust varying between 40 and 50 percent. Against the background of the attitude towards other institutions, especially those of state power, the Church seems to remain on the sidelines, attitudes towards it are stable, without sharp peaks and troughs, although the presence of scandals and accusations is not an exception for this sphere of public processes in our country. It is significant that the funeral of Patriarch Neophyte in March of this year was defined as one of the events that united our society to the greatest extent, according to "Gallup".
Relatively positive attitudes towards the church institution, however, cannot be equated with the attitude towards religion and belief in God. A global survey conducted by the World Association "Gallup International" (2022), shows that our society is among the moderately religious (world average 61% define themselves as religious; EU average - 43%). Bulgarians are rather skeptics, but in recent years, in some respects, there has been some dynamics in our country.
In our country, 53% declare that they are religious. Nearly a third (29%) do not perceive themselves as religious people, and a tenth are atheists (9%). Another 10 percent can't decide how to answer. Our country is rather in the middle (or even a little below it) of the "ranking” by declared religiosity – below average levels on a global scale, but far from the extremely low levels observed in other countries. Bulgaria is close in attitudes to the other eastern EU countries. However, our society is more religious in Western European countries.
These attitudes have remained rather stable in our country in recent years – the share of those who identify as religious remains the same, but atheism also seems to be growing. There is a minimal decline in the share of those who stated that they are rather non-believers. In 2014, again one second (52%) of Bulgarians defined themselves as religious. 36% then say they are not believers, and 3% are atheists. A few years later, in 2016, attitudes are virtually the same – 51% define themselves as religious people, 36% – as non-religious, 3% are atheists and the rest cannot answer.
And in our country, as in most countries of the world, those who believe in the existence of God (58%) seem to be more than those who define themselves as believers in general. Nearly a quarter believe there is no God, and 15% are not quite sure. Few do not know how to answer. The answers of the Bulgarians are again approaching the averages registered for the EU – closer to those of respondents from the eastern states of the Union. Belief in the existence of God in our country remains at the same declared levels in recent years.
The research was conducted for BNT between March 28 and April 5, 2024 among 805 people using the face-to-face method. with tablets. The sample is representative of the adult population of the country. The maximum standard deviation is +3.5% at 50 percent shares. 1% of the entire sample equals about 54,000 people.
The global survey of the World Association "Gallup International" covers a total of 57,768 people interviewed in 61 countries around the world. In each country, during the period August - October 2022, about 1,000 people were interviewed by the "face-to-face" method, by telephone or online. The statistical error of the study is in the range +3 - 5% with a confidence interval - 95%.