In which EU regions are people most at risk of poverty?

In 2023, 16.2% of the EU population – or some 71.7 million people – were at risk of poverty. The risk of poverty rate is based on national poverty thresholds and the map presents at risk of poverty at regional level using the nomenclature of territorial units for statistics.  

At the regional level, 10 regions in the EU had a share of people at risk of poverty above 30%. 

The highest shares were found in the outmost region of France, Guyane, where more than half (53.0%) of the people were at risk of poverty, followed by Calabria (40.6%) and Sicilia (38.0%) in Italy. 

By contrast, 26 regions recorded shares below 10%. The Romanian region of Bucureşti-Ilfov had the lowest rates of people at risk of poverty (2.1%), ahead of the Italian region Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano/Bozen (3.1%) and the Belgian region Prov. Oost-Vlaanderen (5.4%). 

For more information

• Statistics Explained article on living conditions in Europe - income distribution and income inequality
• Thematic section on income and living conditions
• Database on income and living conditions
• Key figures on living conditions – 2024 edition 

Methodological notes

The at-risk-of-poverty rate (AROP) is part of the at risk of poverty or social exclusion rate (AROPE). It is the share of people with an equivalised disposable income (after social transfer) below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold, which is set at 60 % of the national median equivalised disposable income after social transfers. This indicator does not measure wealth or poverty, but low income in comparison to other residents in that country, which does not necessarily imply a low standard of living.

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