Serbia Least Afraid of Aging in Europe, Study Finds
A new STADA Group survey finds that people in Serbia, along with Kazakhstan and Switzerland, worry less about growing old than anyone else on the continent. So what do they actually fear?
Are you afraid of getting old? If you live in Serbia, chances are you worry about it less than your peers elsewhere in Europe. A new survey finds that fear of aging here is the lowest on the entire continent, with only 40 percent of respondents saying the subject bothers them.
The figure comes from the STADA Health Report 2026, reported by the Beta news agency on September 2, 2026. The survey was carried out for the STADA Group, whose members include the Vrsac based pharmaceutical company Hemofarm, by the research agency Human8, through an online questionnaire fielded in February and March 2026. Twenty countries were surveyed, from Austria and Germany to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, with 500 to 2,000 respondents aged 18 to 99 in each country. The questionnaire covered more than 40 topics, from trust in doctors to attitudes toward artificial intelligence in healthcare.
Who worries most about aging, and who worries least?
More than half of Europeans, the report shows, are worried about aging. People in Lithuania are the most concerned, at 67 percent. The Czech Republic and Poland follow at 65 percent each, then Spain and France at 62 percent.
At the opposite end of the list is Serbia, at the 40 percent mentioned above. People in Kazakhstan and Switzerland think along similar lines, at 42 percent each, as do those in Uzbekistan, at 43 percent.
What are Serbians actually afraid of?
When the fear of aging does set in, what triggers it is clear enough. For 74 percent of respondents in Serbia, the biggest fear is illness, almost identical to Hungarians and Czechs, where the figure stands at 75 percent.
“That is why we no longer measure longevity only by the number of years, but by their quality,” said Ronald Zeliger, CEO of the Hemofarm Group, in a statement accompanying the report. He added that younger generations tend to focus on their present condition, while older generations are increasingly turning to prevention and long term health security.
The wish to live longer was described as very or quite important by 75 percent of Europeans as well. That wish, the survey shows, is strongest among people who report good mental health, meaning it is not just a matter of physical condition, but of an overall sense that life has meaning.
Are we ready to change our habits?
Here the numbers show that fear, or the lack of it, is not the whole story. This is what Europeans, Serbians included, are actually doing or say they would be willing to do.
- 80 percent of Europeans are ready to fully cut out or significantly reduce sugar and sweets
- a genetic test would be accepted by 82 percent of Europeans, by as many as 92 percent in Portugal, and by 81 percent in Serbia
- a blood pressure monitor is used regularly by 68 percent of respondents in Serbia, compared with 79 percent in Slovakia, 76 percent in Lithuania, 74 percent in Hungary and 72 percent in Poland
Unlike on the question of fear, Serbia here sits closer to the European average than one might expect. Openness to genetic testing, the report shows, is highest among younger generations and among people who are more accepting of artificial intelligence in healthcare.
What does this say about us?
A low fear percentage does not necessarily mean people are more carefree. It may simply reflect a different view of aging, or the fact that people think about it less until a specific diagnosis forces the issue. If nothing else, the report’s numbers give a concrete reason to focus on what actually depends on us, regardless of how afraid we are: less sugar, regular blood pressure checks, and an informed relationship with our own health. That is exactly what other Europeans are doing too, no matter how much, or how little, they fear what comes with age.
