One in three Europeans with a low educational level is subjectively considered poor, compared to four in five Greeks, according to Eurostat data released today.

In 2022, 29.5% of the EU population with a low level of education (with a high school diploma rather than a high school diploma) is subjectively considered poor.

This percentage is more than three times lower (9.2%) for people with high education (tertiary education), while for people with an average educational level (high school diploma without higher education) it was 18%.

Among EU countries, Greece has the highest percentage of people with a low level of education (81.6%) who were considered poor. Bulgaria (67.9%) and Slovakia (53.3%) follow.

The lowest figures are recorded in Finland (7.3%), Luxembourg (10.0%) and Sweden (11.3%).

Greece also has the highest percentages in the EU of people with a medium and high level of education who are subjectively considered poor, with percentages of 70% and 49% respectively.

Most of the EU member states reported significant various between population groups with high and low education. The difference was at least 20 percentage points (pp) in 12 countries.

The most notable differences were in Bulgaria (47.7 p.), Hungary (41.5 p.) and Slovakia (39.5 p.) and the lowest in Finland (4.5 p. .m), Denmark (5.9 am) and Sweden (7.1 am).

It is noted that “subjective poverty” is the individual’s perception of his financial and material situation.

It is a perception based on results from the EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) and a collection of data from all EU members, as well as most EFTA (European Free Trade Area) countries and the candidate countries.

This indicator assesses the respondents’ perception of the difficulties faced by their household to cope with financial obligations. The assessment takes into account the state of material well-being of households, including income, expenditure, debt and wealth.