The invention relates to glass fibres having a chemical composition that contains the following constituents in the limits defined hereafter and expressed in percentage by weight, namely: 38 to 49 SiO<SUB>2</SUB>; 15 to 25 Al<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>3</SUB>; 1 to 15 CaO; 0 to 4 MgO; 14 to 25 Na<SUB>2</SUB>O; 0 to 10 K<SUB>2</SUB>O; 0 to 8 B<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>3</SUB>; 0 to 3 Fe<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>3</SUB>; and 0 to 3 P<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>5</SUB>.