Number of people in Bulgaria at risk of poverty, social exclusion dropped by more than a million in nine years
The number of people in Bulgaria at risk of poverty and social exclusion dropped by 1.17 million between 2015 and 2024, going by figures posted by European Union statistics agency Eurostat.
Eurostat explained that being at risk of poverty or social exclusion means living in households experiencing at least one of three poverty and social exclusion risks: risk of poverty, severe material and social deprivation, and living in a household with very low work intensity.
In 2015, a total of 3 124 000 people in Bulgaria were at risk of poverty and social exclusion, representing 43.3 per cent of the country’s population, while in 2024, the figure was 1 953 000, 30.3 per cent of the population.
There has been an overall trend of a decrease since 2015, the first year for which figures are available.
In 2020, the figure was 33.5 per cent and in 2023, 30 per cent.
However, according to Eurostat, Bulgaria remains the EU country with the highest percentage of the population at risk of poverty or social exclusion.
Bulgaria was followed by Romania (27.9 per cent), Greece (26.9 per cent), Spain and Lithuania (both 25.8 per cent).
On the other hand, the lowest shares were recorded in Czechia (11.3 per cent), Slovenia (14.4 per cent), the Netherlands (15.4 per cent), Poland (16.0 per cent) and Ireland (16.7 per cent).
In 2024, 93.3 million people in the EU (21.0 per cent of the population) were at risk of poverty or social exclusion. Compared with 2023, there was a slight decrease of 0.3 percentage points (21.3 per cent of the population, 94.6 million people).
(Photo: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)
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