Eurostat: 42 pct of Romanians were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2012

Newsroom 05/12/2013 | 15:07

Romania reported the second highest share of persons being at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2012 after Bulgaria, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

In 2012, the highest shares of persons being at risk of poverty or social exclusion were reported in Bulgaria (49 percent), Romania (42 percent), Latvia (37 percent) and Greece (35 percent), and the lowest in the Netherlands and the Czech Republic (both 15 percent), Finland (17 percent), Sweden and Luxembourg (both 18 percent), according to the same source.

Overall, 124.5 million people, or 24.8 percent of EU’s population were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2012 compared with 24.3 percent in 2011 and 23.7 percent in 2008. Eurostat defines the risk of poverty or social exclusion as one of the following three conditions: being at-risk-of-poverty, being severely materially deprived or living in households with very low work intensity.

In 2012 Romania reported the highest share of people at-risk-of-poverty after social transfers, meaning that their disposable income was below their national at-risk-of-poverty threshold (23 percent) and the second highest share of severely materially deprived persons (30 percent). In 2012, 7.4 percent of Romanians under 59 were living in households with very low work intensity.

The reduction of the number of persons at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the EU is one of the key targets of the Europe 2020 strategy.