About a third (34%) of Romania’s population was at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2022, marking the highest value in the EU, according to a recent report from the European statistics office Eurostat. This means they live 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.

Bulgaria had the second-highest share - 32%, followed by Greece and Spain - both 26%.

At the other end, the lowest values were recorded in Czechia - 12%, Slovenia - 13%, and Poland - 16%.

At the European Union level, 95.3 million people (or 22% of the total population) were at risk of poverty or social exclusion last year. According to Eurostat, the figure remained relatively stable compared with 2021 - 95.4 million, 22% of the population.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Denys Kovtun/Dreamstime.com)