site.bta44% of Bulgarians Consider COVID-19 Threat Exaggerated, Gallup International Global Polling Shows

A Gallup International Association "End of Year" Global Polling made public on Monday shows that 44% of Bulgarians believe that the COVID-19 threat was exaggerated, 28% have the opposing opinion, and a quarter neither agreed nor disagreed. Few were unable to decide, the survey showed.

The Gallup International Association's "End of Year" survey is an annual tradition initiated by and designed under the chairmanship of Dr. George Gallup in 1977. This year, it was carried out in 44 countries around the world. A total of 43,922 people were interviewed globally. In each country, around 1,000 people were interviewed face-to-face, via telephone, or online during the period October-December 2023. The margin of error for the survey is ±3-5% with a 95% confidence interval.

The figures are not surprising - at the very beginning of the pandemic, 72% of respondents in Bulgaria were likely to be sceptical about the COVID-19 threat. Their share gradually decreased until it reached about 40% in 2022, Gallup International noted.

The Association pointed out that Bulgarians now take a rather moderate stance - average for the EU, mostly in line with the eastern Member States, but far from more extreme examples such as Romania, where 66% of respondents consider the threat exaggerated, or the Republic of North Macedonia, where 55% hold that opinion.