a person looking through the empty wallet while calculating the bills expenses.

In 2023, 94.6 million people in the EU (21% of the population) were at risk of poverty or social exclusion, i.e. lived in households experiencing at least one of the three poverty and social exclusion risks: risk of poverty, severe material and social deprivation, and/or living in a household with very low work intensity. The figure slightly decreased compared with 2022 (95.3 million, 22% of the population).

This information comes from data on people at risk of poverty or social exclusion published by Eurostat today. This article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article.

People at risk of poverty or social exclusion, 2023, % of total population. Chart. See link to full dataset below.

Source dataset: ilc_peps01n

The shares of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion varied across the EU countries in 2023. The highest values were reported in Romania (32%), Bulgaria (30%), Spain (27%) and Greece (26%). On the other hand, the lowest shares were recorded in Czechia (12%), Slovenia (14%), Finland and Poland (both 16%).