14% of Bulgarians Ready to Emigrate Permanently

In end-September 2012, 14% of Bulgarians said they intended to leave the country for good, according to results of a nationwide representative survey by the National Center for Public Opinion Research (NZIOM) on migration attitudes in Bulgaria.

The survey was conducted in the period September 20-27, 2012.

The share of people willing to leave the country permanently increased by 3% as compared to November 2009, when 11% of the polled expressed such intentions.

A growing number of people aged 30-39, 25%, shared such an attitude, as well as 22% of the people up to 29 years of age.

A growing number of people ready to emigrate from Bulgaria were observed among university graduates and unemployed.

A total of 28% of the polled said they wanted to work or study abroad without leaving Bulgaria permanently, up by 3% as compared to November 2009.

Such intentions were voiced by 63% of the polled aged up to 29 and 40% of the polled aged 30-39, by 38% of Sofia citizens, and by 50% of the unemployed.

Roma and Turkish nationals showed higher than the average willingness to leave Bulgaria, be it permanently or temporarily.

At the same time, 12% of the respondents had a firm intention to leave Bulgaria, be it for a job or for an educational program or permanently.

A total of 67% of the polled said they would encourage their children (if they had children or when they had children) to study abroad, up by 3% from 2009.

This was a common response among people aged up to 49, university graduates and citizens of Sofia.

71% of the polled (up by 2% from 2009) said they would encourage their children to work abroad for a certain period of time.

Such plans were most often shared by people aged up to 49, people with secondary school diplomas, and residents of district cities.

The share of people who said they would encourage their children to move abroad permanently was 36%, up by 6% from 2009, the biggest group being of people aged up to 49.

According to NZIOM, the main conclusion that can be drawn from the data is that migration attitudes in Bulgaria remained stable over the past three years.

Respondents aged up to 39, unemployed, Roma and Turkish nationals more often said they were ready to leave Bulgaria, be it temporarily or permanently.

As regards encouraging children to emigrate from Bulgaria, parents at an active age were more likely to support such plans, while older parents aged 60+ and needing care were firmly against.