Citizen support for democracy in Bulgaria
Bulgaria: Citizen support for democracy was -0.4845 in 2020. ▲ Rising
Citizen support for democracy in Bulgaria, 1990–2020
Source: Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2020, citizen support for democracy in Bulgaria stood at -0.4845.
That represents a change of up 0.3% on the previous year and up 44.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, citizen support for democracy in Bulgaria peaked at -0.4825 in 2017 and was at its lowest, -1.45, in 1992.
That places Bulgaria 81st out of 144 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 31 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | -0.982 | -1.45 | -0.6726 | 10 |
| 2000s | -0.9615 | -1.08 | -0.8574 | 10 |
| 2010s | -0.5917 | -0.8659 | -0.4825 | 10 |
| 2020s | -0.4845 | -0.4845 | -0.4845 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Bulgaria
More social development data for Bulgaria
- Political Rights Rating 2 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 105,596 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 533 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Key features of democracy 0.599 (2025)
- Freedom of Expression Index 0.754 (2025)
- Freedom of Association Index 0.833 (2025)
- Electoral Democracy Index 0.599 (2025)
- Participatory Democracy Index 0.397 (2025)
- Liberal Democracy Index 0.499 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is citizen support for democracy in Bulgaria?
- Citizen support for democracy in Bulgaria was -0.4845 in 2020, according to Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest citizen support for democracy recorded in Bulgaria?
- The highest recorded value was -0.4825 in 2017.
- What is the lowest citizen support for democracy recorded in Bulgaria?
- The lowest recorded value was -1.45 in 1992.
- How does Bulgaria rank for citizen support for democracy?
- Bulgaria ranks 81st out of 144 countries with data for 2020.
- Is citizen support for democracy rising or falling in Bulgaria?
- Over the last ten years it is up 44.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Bulgaria data come from?
- The figures come from Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Citizen support for 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 support a democratic political system and reject autocratic alternatives. It combines responses across more than one thousand nationally-representative surveys on how desirable citizens find democracy, how they evaluate undemocratic alternatives (such as a strong unelected leader, the army, or religious authorities), and how they assess democratic and autocratic political systems relative to another.