The Portuguese are the European Union citizens most concerned about natural disasters worsened by climate change. This is the conclusion drawn from the Eurobarometer autumn report published this Wednesday, February 4th, on the official website of the European Parliament.
According to the study, 91% of Portuguese people expressed concern about disasters, at a time when the country has been the target of severe weather conditions, which contrasts with European citizens, since on average only 66% say they are concerned about these types of phenomena.
The study shows that this concern is more evident in the populations of Mediterranean countries, with Greece (83%), Italy (83%), Cyprus (80%), Spain (79%), Croatia (73%) and Malta (71%) as the most concerned, with Poland (71%) at the top of this list, which is the first country in northern Europe where the population reveals concerns in this matter, which contrasts with the majority of countries in the north and center of the continent, of which Estonia (28%), the Czech Republic (42%) and Denmark (44%) are the least sensitive to this topic.
“These differences may in part reflect recent experience with extreme weather events, such as heat waves or forest fires, which tend to affect southern Europe more severely”, explains Eurobarometer, which does not yet reflect the consequences of this winter’s storms, as the study was carried out in November 2025.
The second biggest concern of the Portuguese has to do with “uncontrolled migratory flows”, also appearing here as the most concerned in the European Union, with 88% of respondents saying they are “very worried”, which represents a figure well above the European average, which is 65%.
The only countries that come close to Portugal’s rate are Cyprus (86%), Greece (84%), Malta and Italy (81%), countries on the Mediterranean coast, which contrasts with significantly lower levels in northern European member states, such as Sweden (32%) or Denmark (48%).
The Portuguese also appear at the top of this study in terms of concerns about terrorism (74%), conflicts and wars on the borders of the European Union (71%) and threats to freedom of expression (70%).
Still, despite the study showing that they are the most concerned population, the Portuguese come in tenth place among the Member States that express greater optimism about the future of the EU. In this case, around 64% of Portuguese respondents say they are optimistic, above the European average of 57%.
The Portuguese are even among the citizens most in favor of the European project, with 84% of respondents considering that the fact that Portugal belongs to the European Union is “a good thing”, which contrasts with the 62% average in this study.
A large majority even calls for the European project to be strengthened: around 96% of Portuguese respondents say they agree with the statement that “EU Member States must strengthen their union to face current global challenges” (compared to a European average of 89%) and 90% call for the EU to be provided with more resources (compared to 73% at European level).
Asked what the European Parliament’s first priority should be, 68% of Portuguese people say it is public health, followed by inflation, rising prices and the cost of living (58%) and the economy and job creation (45%).
This Eurobarometer was based on interviews with 26,453 European citizens, carried out between November 6th and 30th, 2025. In Portugal, 1,037 citizens were interviewed, between November 7th and 26th.
*with Lusa
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