Citizen satisfaction with democracy in Bulgaria
Bulgaria: Citizen satisfaction with democracy was -1.31 in 2020. ▼ Falling
Citizen satisfaction with democracy in Bulgaria, 1990–2020
Source: Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2020, citizen satisfaction with democracy in Bulgaria stood at -1.31.
The figure is up 1.7% on the previous year and up 36.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, citizen satisfaction with democracy in Bulgaria peaked at -0.6583 in 1991 and was at its lowest, -2.33, in 2008.
Bulgaria ranks 122nd of 131 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 31 years of available data.
Citizen satisfaction with democracy in Bulgaria, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | -0.7096 | — |
| 1991 | -0.6583 | -7.2% |
| 1992 | -0.8578 | +30.3% |
| 1993 | -1.36 | +59.0% |
| 1994 | -1.93 | +41.9% |
| 1995 | -1.95 | +0.9% |
| 1996 | -2.03 | +3.7% |
| 1997 | -1.77 | -12.4% |
| 1998 | -1.71 | -3.4% |
| 1999 | -1.65 | -3.8% |
| 2000 | -1.74 | +5.5% |
| 2001 | -1.84 | +5.5% |
| 2002 | -1.93 | +5.4% |
| 2003 | -2.04 | +5.2% |
| 2004 | -2.14 | +4.9% |
| 2005 | -2.2 | +3.1% |
| 2006 | -2.2 | -0.3% |
| 2007 | -2.19 | -0.1% |
| 2008 | -2.33 | +6.2% |
| 2009 | -2.2 | -5.5% |
| 2010 | -2.08 | -5.5% |
| 2011 | -2.07 | -0.5% |
| 2012 | -2.16 | +4.6% |
| 2013 | -2.27 | +5.0% |
| 2014 | -2.11 | -7.1% |
| 2015 | -1.85 | -12.6% |
| 2016 | -1.66 | -10.1% |
| 2017 | -1.49 | -10.0% |
| 2018 | -1.48 | -1.2% |
| 2019 | -1.34 | -9.4% |
| 2020 | -1.31 | -1.7% |
Bulgaria compared with similar countries
- Bulgaria's -1.31 is below the median for high income countries, which is 0.303. (47 countries reporting)
- Bulgaria's -1.31 is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is -0.0062, 211.7× the median. (46 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Citizen satisfaction with democracy in Bulgaria changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | -59.0% | -0.8578 | -1.36 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | -1.46 | -2.03 | -0.6583 | 10 |
| 2000s | -2.08 | -2.33 | -1.74 | 10 |
| 2010s | -1.85 | -2.27 | -1.34 | 10 |
| 2020s | -1.31 | -1.31 | -1.31 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Bulgaria
More social development data for Bulgaria
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 105,596 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 533 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 2 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 2 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0001 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 533 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0164 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is citizen satisfaction with democracy in Bulgaria?
- Citizen satisfaction with democracy in Bulgaria was -1.31 in 2020, according to Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest citizen satisfaction with democracy recorded in Bulgaria?
- The highest recorded value was -0.6583 in 1991.
- What is the lowest citizen satisfaction with democracy recorded in Bulgaria?
- The lowest recorded value was -2.33 in 2008.
- How does Bulgaria rank for citizen satisfaction with democracy?
- Bulgaria ranks 122nd out of 131 countries with data for 2020.
- Is citizen satisfaction with democracy rising or falling in Bulgaria?
- Over the last ten years it is up 36.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Bulgaria data come from?
- The figures come from Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Citizen satisfaction with democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 31 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Central estimate of the average extent to which citizens are satisfied with democracy in their own country. It combines responses across more than one thousand nationally-representative surveys on how citizens' satisfaction with democracy.