Disability statistics - financial situation

Data extracted in: July 2024.

Planned article update: December 2025.

Highlights

In 2023, 40.4% of people in the EU with a disability could not afford a 1 week annual holiday.

In 2023, 13.8% of people in the EU with a disability could not afford to eat meat, fish or a vegetarian equivalent at least every other day.

In 2023, 39.4% of people in the EU with a disability could not meet unexpected financial expenses.

Share of people aged 16 years or over living in households that reported having difficulties in making ends meet, by level of disability (activity limitation), 2023

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This article is part of a set of articles on disability and presents various aspects of the financial situation of people with a disability (activity limitation). The findings presented in this article are based on the European Union's (EU's) statistics on income and living conditions (EU-SILC) and relate to the 2023 reference year; they cover people aged 16 years and over.

Full article

Struggling to make ends meet

People with a disability are more likely to struggle to make ends meet

Financial difficulties: households are asked, for example, whether they struggle to make ends meet, whether they can afford to go away for a 1 week holiday once a year, or whether they can afford to eat meat or fish (or a vegetarian equivalent) regularly.

In 2023, 25.5% of people aged 16 years and over with a disability (having some or severe activity limitations) in the EU lived in households that reported having difficulties in making ends meet; in other words, their financial resources did not cover their usual necessary expenses. For comparison, the share was 16.2% among people without a disability (no activity limitations) – see Figure 1.

In all EU countries, people with a disability were more likely to have difficulties in making ends meet in 2023 than people without a disability. The share of people with a disability living in a household that reported suffering such financial difficulties was:

less than a sixth in Luxembourg (10.5%), Finland (11.2%), the Netherlands (12.0%), Germany (14.7%; low reliability) and Sweden (16.5%)
above half in Greece (75.2%), and Bulgaria (50.2%).

Figure 1: Share of people aged 16 years and over living in households that reported having difficulties in making ends meet, by level of disability (activity limitation), 2023
(%)
Source: Eurostat (hlth_dm060)

1 week annual holiday

40.4% of people with a disability couldn't afford a 1 week annual holiday

A consequence of difficult financial circumstances may be the inability to go on holiday. This is measured as someone being unable to afford a 1 week holiday once a year – see Figure 2. In the EU in 2023, people aged 16 years and over with a disability were more likely to find themselves in this position (40.4%) compared with people (of the same age) without a disability (24.2%).

Figure 2: Share of people aged 16 years and over living in households unable to afford a 1 week annual holiday, by level of disability (activity limitation), 2023
(%)
Source: Eurostat (hlth_dm020)

In all EU countries, the share of people living in households unable to afford a 1 week annual holiday was higher among those with a disability than those without a disability. In 2023, the share of people with a disability who lived in a household unable to afford a 1 week annual holiday was notably higher in eastern EU countries and Greece: 73.5% in Romania, 70.0% in Bulgaria, 64.7% in Hungary, 60.2% in Croatia and 57.6% in Greece; it was also high in all enlargement countries for which data are available. The lowest values among the EU countries were observed in Luxembourg (16.6%) and Finland (18.7%).

Meat, fish or a vegetarian equivalent at least every other day

13.8% of people with a disability were unable to afford to eat meat, fish or a vegetarian equivalent at least every other day

The financial difficulties faced by people with a disability in the EU can also be seen by the fact that, in 2023, 13.8% lived in households that were unable to afford to eat meat, fish or a vegetarian equivalent at least every other day. The share of people without a disability in a similar situation was notably lower, at 7.9%.

In all EU countries, people with a disability were more likely than people without a disability to live in a household that was unable to afford to eat meat, fish or a vegetarian equivalent at least every other day. In 2023, the percentage of people with a disability living in a household unable to afford to eat meat, fish or a vegetarian equivalent at least every other day varied greatly between EU countries, ranging from 2.5% in Cyprus to upwards of 20.0% in Lithuania, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria (where the highest share was recorded, at 33.0%).

Figure 3: Share of people aged 16 years and over living in households unable to afford to eat meat, fish (or a vegetarian equivalent) at least every other day, by level of disability (activity limitation), 2023
(%)
Source: Eurostat (hlth_dm030)

Unexpected financial expenses

39.4% of people with a disability would be unable to meet unexpected financial expenses

In 2023, 39.4% of people with a disability in the EU lived in households which would be unable to meet unexpected financial expenses, compared with 27.4% among people without a disability.

Being unable to meet unexpected financial expenses means that a household would be unable to cover an unexpected essential expense from its own resources, that is, without asking for help: for example, borrowing money from friends or family, overdrawing on a bank account, or worsening its situation with regard to potential debts. Examples of essential expenses are having surgery, paying for a funeral, having major repairs carried out in the house or replacing durable goods (such as a washing machine or a car).

Figure 4: Share of people aged 16 years and over living in households that would be unable to meet unexpected financial expenses, by level of disability (activity limitation), 2023
(%)
Source: Eurostat (hlth_dm040)

In all EU countries, people with a disability were more likely to be unable to meet an unexpected financial expense in 2023 than people without a disability. There was substantial variation between EU countries in the share of people with a disability living in households that would be unable to meet an unexpected financial expense. The highest share was 63.7% in Bulgaria and the lowest was 21.9% in the Netherlands – see Figure 4.

Falling behind with payments

Financial difficulties may leave households unable to service their debts or to pay their usual expenses such as utility bills

In 2023, people with a disability in the EU were slightly more likely to live in a household that had fallen behind with payments (for a mortgage or rent, utility bills or hire purchases) during the previous 12 months than people without a disability: this share was 10.4% for people with a disability compared with 8.1% of people without a disability.

In 2023, people with a disability were more likely to live in a household that had fallen behind with payments during the previous 12 months than people without a disability; this pattern was observed in all EU countries except for Greece. The percentage of people with a disability in such households was highest in Greece (45.7%) and Bulgaria (23.2%) – the only EU countries with shares above 20.0%. By contrast, the lowest shares were recorded in Czechia (3.4%) and the Netherlands (3.9%) – the only EU countries with shares that were less than 5.0%.

Focusing on older people in the EU, specifically those aged 65 years and over, in 2023 some 6.1% of older people with a disability lived in a household that had fallen behind with payments during the previous 12 months, compared with 3.7% of older people without a disability.

In all EU countries except for Luxembourg and Malta, older people with a disability were more likely to live in a household that had fallen behind with payments during the previous 12 months than older people without a disability. In 2023, the percentage of older people with a disability in such households was highest in Greece (41.4%) and Bulgaria (20.5%). The lowest shares were recorded in the Netherlands (0.7%) and Czechia (1.1%).

Table 1: Share of people living in a household that had fallen behind with payments (for a mortgage or rent, utility bills or hire purchases) during the previous 12 months, by level of disability (activity limitation), 2023
(%)
Source: Eurostat (hlth_dm050)

Source data for tables and graphs

Disability statistics – financial situation: tables and figures

Data sources

EU-SILC is the source of comparative statistics on income distribution and social inclusion in the EU. It provides annual data for the EU countries as well as most EFTA and enlargement countries on income, poverty, social exclusion and other aspects of living conditions.

The reference population for EU-SILC is limited to private households and their current members residing in the territory of the surveying country at the time of data collection. People living in collective households and institutions are generally excluded from the reference population; this constitutes a limitation for disability statistics. All household members are surveyed, but only those aged 16 years and over are interviewed.

The source is documented in more detail in this background article, which provides information on the scope of the data, its legal basis, the methodology employed, as well as related concepts and definitions.

In EU-SILC, disability is approximated according to the concept of global activity limitation, which is defined as a limitation – because of health problems – in carrying out usual activities (for at least the previous 6 months). This is considered to be an adequate proxy for disability, both by the scientific community and organisations representing people with disabilities. This definition is also in line with the concept of disability as set out in the European disability strategy 2010–2020 and its successor, the Strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities 2021–2030.

Context

Disability statistics are used to measure the impact and effectiveness of EU policy aimed at ensuring equal rights for people with disabilities. The EU has adopted several strategies aimed at improving the lives of people with disabilities

by reducing discrimination and inequalities
by providing support to enjoy fully their human rights, fundamental freedoms and EU rights on an equal basis with others.

In light of this, the 2021-2030 EU Strategy for the rights of people with disabilities sets EU objectives and priority actions in several areas, such as accessibility, citizens’ rights, the quality of life, equal access and non-discrimination, and the promotion of the rights of people with disabilities. To find out more, please visit the webpage on the monitoring framework for the objectives and actions of this strategy.

To ensure sound monitoring and reporting of this topic, the European Commission is reinforcing the collection of data on the situation of people with disabilities in areas where knowledge gaps have been identified, for example in relation to access to the labour market.

The EU is also a signatory of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).