16.10.2020

Nearly a third of Bulgarians live at risk of poverty and social exclusion

32.5% of Bulgarians were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2019, according to data from the European statistical office Eurostat.

Their share has increased compared to 28% in 2018, and according to this indicator our country ranks first in the EU. After Bulgaria, the highest risk of poverty were the citizens of Romania (31.2%), Greece (30%), Italy and Latvia (27.3%, data for Italy are from 2018), Lithuania (26, 3%) and Spain (25.3%).

On the other hand, the share of people at risk of poverty and social exclusion is lowest in the Czech Republic (12.5%), Slovenia (14.4%), Finland (15.6%), Denmark (16.3%), Slovakia (16.4%), the Netherlands (16.5%) and Austria (16.9%).

A total of 21.1% of the EU population, or 92.4 million people, were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2019 compared to 21.6% a year earlier, writes investor.bg.

At the same time, 22.6% of Bulgarians were at risk of income poverty, which puts our country in third place in the EU. According to this indicator, the residents of Romania (23.8%) and Latvia (22.9%) are at the highest risk. Over one-fifth of the population also lives at risk of income poverty in Estonia (21.7%), Spain (20.7%), Lithuania (20.6%) and Italy (20.3% according to 2018 data). At the opposite pole are the Czech Republic (10.1%), Finland (11.6%), Slovakia (11.9%) and Slovenia (12%).

In 2019, 16.5% of the EU population was at risk of poverty after social transfers (income poverty) compared to 16.8% in 2018. The income poverty parameter determines the share of people in a household whose disposable income are below the national at-risk-of-poverty threshold.

Bulgaria ranks first in the EU in terms of the share of people living in great material deprivation, ie. their living conditions are severely affected by the lack of resources such as the ability to pay their bills, heat their homes adequately or go on a one-week holiday away from home.

Last year, 19.9% ​​of Bulgarians lived in severe material deprivation, followed by 16.2% of Greeks and 14.5% of Romanians. At the opposite pole is Luxembourg, where this applies to only 1.3% of the population, followed by Sweden with 1.8%, Finland with 2.4% and the Netherlands with 2.5%.

5.6 percent of the EU population lived in severe material deprivation in 2019, down from 6.1% a year earlier, according to Eurostat data.

Last year, 9.3% of Bulgarians under the age of 60 lived in households where adults made less than 20% of their total work potential. According to this indicator, Greece is in first place with 13.8%, followed by Ireland with 13% according to data for 2018, Belgium with 12.4% and Italy with 11.3%. At the opposite pole are the Czech Republic with 4.2%, Poland with 4.7% and Malta with 4.9%.

In the EU as a whole, 8.5% of the population under the age of 60 lived in low-labor-intensive households, down from 8.8% in 2018.