Millions of EU Residents Suffer from Poverty

(MENAFN) Roughly 93.3 million individuals within the European Union, representing 21 percent of the overall population, faced the danger of poverty or social exclusion in the year 2024, according to newly published statistics from Eurostat on Wednesday.

This number encompasses households that encountered at least one of three hardships: "income poverty", "severe material and social deprivation", or "very low work intensity".

These indicators point to different dimensions of financial and social instability that affect people’s well-being and quality of life.

Although the total has decreased slightly—by 0.3 percent in comparison with the prior year—the statistics still underscore enduring fragilities across many member states.

The most pronounced levels of risk were identified in Bulgaria (30.3 percent), Romania (27.9 percent), Greece (26.9 percent), along with Spain and Lithuania, both at 25.8 percent.

These nations continue to grapple with socioeconomic pressures that place a large share of their populations at risk.

Conversely, the lowest proportions of people facing these challenges were found in the Czech Republic (11.3 percent), Slovenia (14.4 percent), the Netherlands (15.4 percent), Poland (16 percent), and Ireland (16.7 percent), pointing to relatively stronger social safety nets or more favorable economic conditions in those countries.

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