(MENAFN) Recent figures from the EU’s statistical agency reveal that over 21% of the European Union’s population is at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2024.

Certain areas stand out with rates exceeding twice the EU average. The highest was found in French Guiana, an overseas region of France, where nearly 60% of residents are at risk. Southern Italian regions Calabria and Campania followed with 48.8% and 43.5% respectively. Spain’s autonomous cities Melilla and Ceuta also reported figures above 40%, indicating that more than four in ten people there face such vulnerabilities.

Altogether, 25 regions recorded poverty or social exclusion rates affecting at least one-third of their populations. These were predominantly located in countries like Greece, Bulgaria, Spain, Italy, Romania, and France’s outermost territories. Additionally, two urban regions in western Europe—Brussels-Capital in Belgium and Bremen in Germany—were also included in this group.

On the other hand, 26 regions reported much lower risk levels, with rates below 12.5%. Among them were seven northern and central Italian regions, including the Autonomous Province of Bolzano, which had the lowest risk rate in the entire EU at just 6.6%.

In the Czech Republic, six out of eight regions fell below the 12.5% mark, with Jihozápad ranking third lowest in the EU at 8.8%. Other areas with relatively low risk included regions in northern Belgium (Vlaams Gewest), Austria, Poland, the northwest Hungarian region of Közép-Dunántúl, and the capital regions of Croatia, Romania, Slovenia, and Slovakia.

MENAFN18102025000045017640ID1110213860