02.05.2023

OVER 20% OF BULGARIANS WERE BELOW THE POVERTY LINE IN THE PAST YEAR

In 2022, the total poverty line for the country is BGN 525.92 per household member per month. With this size of the poverty line, 1.5719 million people, or 22.9% of the country's population, were below the poverty line, according to data from the National Statistical Institute.

Compared to the previous year, the size of the poverty line increased by 4.3% from BGN 504.33 in 2021, and the relative share of the poor population in Bulgaria increased by 0.8 percentage points compared to 22.1% a year earlier.

The social protection system is essential for reducing poverty.

Data for 2022 show that if pension income is included in household income, but other social transfers (benefits, social and family allowances and supplements) are excluded, the poverty rate rises from 22.9 to 30.3% , or by 7.4 percentage points within a year.

When pensions and other social transfers are excluded, the poverty level rises to 44.2%, or by 21.3 percentage points.

The main factor increasing the risk of falling into the group of poor for the majority of the population is their economic activity and their participation in the labor market.

Over the entire observation period, the relative share of the poor is highest among the unemployed (56.9% for 2022), with the risk of poverty for unemployed men being 3.3 percentage points higher than for unemployed women. also show the data of the National Statistical Institute.

In 2022, the share of the poor among employed persons in the age group 18 - 64 years remains unchanged compared to the previous year - 10%, and the risk of falling into poverty among those working part-time is approximately three times higher than that among those working full time. At the same time, the risk of poverty among working women is 3.2 percentage points lower than that of men.

The level of education has a significant impact on the risk of poverty among employed persons, the survey of national statistics shows.

The relative share of the working poor with primary and no education is the highest - 68.5%. As the level of education increases, the relative share of the working poor decreases by two times for persons with primary education and more than seven times for persons with secondary education. The share of the working poor with higher education is the lowest - only 3.2%.

Estimates of poverty by household type show that the relative share of the poor is highest among single-person households with a person over the age of 65, reaching 61.3% in 2022, as well as with a single person in a household - a woman (56.2% for 2022). Among single-person households, the risk of poverty for women is 21.9 percentage points higher than for men. If there is one person over 65 living in the household, the risk of poverty is 35.4 percentage points higher than a household with one person under 65 living.

In 2022, the highest relative share of the poor among persons self-identified from the Roma ethnic group - 63.2%, and the lowest - among persons self-identified from the Bulgarian ethnic group - 17.3%.