79% of Bulgarians make Christmas decorations and observe the traditions of Christmas Eve. Almost half say that the most important thing for them during the Christmas holidays is time with family and friends, according to data from a Trend study conducted on the eve of the Christmas and New Year holidays.
67% of Bulgarians declare that they will buy gifts for the upcoming holidays for their relatives and friends. As you grow older, the proportion of people who will give gifts decreases. Most of those who will buy gifts are people aged 30-39 and 40-49. Data show that women are more involved in this process – 73% of women say they will buy gifts while for men the share is 60%. In comparison, since the COVID-19 pandemic in both December 2020 and December 2021, the proportion of people who say they will not buy gifts for the upcoming holidays has increased.
79% say they follow Christmas Eve traditions, and 17% say they don’t. Those who say they do not respect them are mostly members of religious minorities.
More than half (58%) of Bulgarians indicate that they have their own family traditions related to the Christmas and New Year holidays, and 39% of Bulgarians do not have such own family traditions.
Regarding holiday decorations, 79% say they will decorate their home. With age, the share of people who will decorate their homes for the holidays decreases. Residents of the capital for the most part declare that they will decorate their homes.
80% will spend Christmas in the town where they live, and only 11% in another town in the country. 1% will be abroad for Christmas. As in previous Trend surveys related to the Christmas and New Year holidays, the data in this survey show that the majority of Bulgarians celebrate Christmas where they live. This is mainly due to the family nature of the holiday.
In 2021, the most important thing for Bulgarians for the Christmas holidays is the time with family/friends – 49%. For 20% of Bulgarians, the mood / Christmas spirit is important. The youngest, aged 18-29, mostly share that the mood / Christmas spirit is most important to them when it comes to the Christmas holidays. Observance of traditions is important for 7% of Bulgarians, and for 6% the most important thing related to the Christmas holidays are the weekends. Among the other important things for Bulgarians are Christmas meals, giving / receiving gifts, shopping / preparing for the holidays. / BGNES
The data are from a Trend study commissioned by the 24 Chasa newspaper, dedicated to Bulgarians’ attitudes towards the Christmas and New Year holidays. The study was conducted in the period between 1 and 7 December 2021 through a direct semi-standardized face-to-face interview through a tablet among 1009 people aged 18+.