Poverty in Europe

In 2022, 95.3 million people in the EU (22 percent of the population) were at risk of poverty or social exclusion, i.e. living in households facing at least one of the three risks of poverty and exclusion: income poverty, severe material and social deprivation and/or living in a household with very low work intensity (where adults work at less than 20 percent of their potential over one year). According to Eurostat data, this figure has remained relatively stable compared to the previous year (95.4 million in 2021, 22 percent of the population).

The proportion of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion varies markedly from one EU country to another. The highest values were reported in Romania (34 percent), Bulgaria (32 percent), Greece and Spain (both 26 percent). Conversely, the lowest percentages were recorded in the Czech Republic (12 percent), Slovenia (13 percent) and Poland (16 percent).

Written by: Claire Villiers

Translated by: Anna Fleck