Today is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, as established by the UN, and more than a billion people around the world suffer from “acute” poverty, half of them babies, children and minors.

In the EU, 94.6 million people (21.4% of the population) are at risk of poverty or social exclusion, according to Eurostat figures for 2023.

Almost 95 million European citizens are faced with at least one of the three risks: poverty, severe material and social deprivation, living in a household with too little work intensity.

Greece in the first places

At national level, the highest percentages of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion were recorded in Romania (32%), Bulgaria (30%), Spain (26.5%) and Greece (26.1%).

In Greece, the highest percentages of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion were recorded in 2023 in Peloponnese (35.7%), at Western Greece (35.2%), at Western Macedonia (32.7%), in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace (31.9%) and at North Aegean (30.4%).

In Attica the corresponding percentage was 22.7%.

Poorer in the countryside

In 2023, people living in the capitals of some EU countries were generally less likely to be at risk of poverty or social exclusion.

This difference was most pronounced in Romania, where the national rate was 32%, compared to just 12.3% in Bucharest. Similarly, in Poland, the national rate was 16.3%, while in the Warsaw region it was only 8.9%. In Croatia, the national index was 20.7%, while in Zagreb it was 11.9%.

At regional level, the highest percentages of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion were recorded in the overseas regions of France, southern Italy and rural areas of Romania.

The opposite trend was observed in Belgium and Austria, where the proportion of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the Brussels (37.6%) and Vienna (29.5%) regions was significantly higher than the national averages 18 .6% and 17.7%, respectively.