Over 95 Million EU Citizens Were at Risk of Poverty & Social Exclusion in 2021
Around 95.4 million people in the European Union, representing 21.7 per cent of the entire population, were at risk of poverty or social exclusion during 2021, according to the EU’s Office for Statistics, Eurostat.
The latest data provided by Eurostat also revealed that this means they lived in families experiencing at least one of the three risks of poverty and social exclusion, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Such data also show that of the total of 95.4 million people in the EU who faced the risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2021, about 5.9 million of them or 1.3 per cent of the total population, lived in households experiencing all three risks of poverty and social exclusion simultaneously.
Eurostat also noted that 2021 marked a slight increase in these numbers compared to 2020, when 94.8 million people were at risk of poverty or social exclusion, consisting of 21.6 per cent of the entire population of the bloc.
“There were 12.2 million people in the EU living both at risk of poverty and in a household with very low work intensity (but not severely materially and socially deprived); 8.5 million were at risk of poverty and, at the same time, severely materially and socially deprived (but not in a household with very low work intensity); almost 2.0 million lived in households with very low work intensity while experiencing severe material deprivation (but were not at risk of poverty),” the reports shows.
The same source has emphasized that in 2021, 73.7 million people in the EU were at risk of poverty, while 27.0 million were severely materially and socially deprived. Meanwhile, another 29.3 million lived in a family with low work intensity.
The countries where the highest risk of poverty and social exclusion was recorded are as follows:
- Romania, 34 per cent
- Bulgaria 32 per cent
- Greece and Spain both 28 per cent
On the other hand, the lowest percentages of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion were recorded in the Czech Republic with 11 per cent, Slovenia with 13 per cent and Finland with 14 per cent.
Looking at the spectrum of gender, in 2021, the risk of poverty or social exclusion in the EU was higher for women with 22.7 per cent, compared to men with 20.7 per cent.
Meanwhile, when analyzed by age, the highest risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2021 in the EU was recorded for young people aged 18-24, 27.3 per cent, while the lowest risk was recorded for people aged 65 years and older, 19.6 per cent.
Furthermore, in 2021, more than a fifth or 22.5 per cent of people living in households with dependent children in the EU were at risk of poverty or social exclusion, which was close to the corresponding percentage among households without dependent children with 20.9 per cent.
