The number of persons who are judged to be at risk of poverty in Malta were estimated to be around 100,000 in 2013, up by 20,000 from 2008, Eurostat said last week.
In percentage terms, the at risk of poverty segment of the population rose from 20.1% in 2008 to 24% in 2013.
In 2013, 122.6 million people, or 24.5% of the population, in the EU1 were at risk of poverty or social exclusion. This means that these people were in at least one of the following three conditions: at-risk-of-poverty after social transfers2 (income poverty), severely materially deprived2 or living in households with very low work intensity.
The proportion of persons at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the EU28 in 2013 (24.5%) has slightly decreased compared with 2012 (24.8%), but is higher than in 2008 (23.8%).
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 strategy3.
In 2013, more than a third of the population was at risk of poverty or social exclusion in five Member States: Bulgaria (48.0%), Romania (40.4%), Greece (35.7%), Latvia (35.1%) and Hungary (33.5%). On the contrary, the lowest shares of persons being at risk of poverty or social exclusion were recorded in the Czech Republic (14.6%), the Netherlands (15.9%), Finland (16.0%) and Sweden (16.4%).
Among Member States for which data are available, the at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion rate has increased from 2008 to 2013 in most of the Member States, the only decreases being recorded in Poland (from 30.5% in 2008 to 25.8% in 2013), Romania (from 44.2% to 40.4%), Austria (from 20.6% to 18.8%), Finland (from 17.4% to 16.0%), Slovakia (from 20.6% to 19.8%), the Czech Republic (from 15.3% to 14.6%) and France (from 18.5% to 18.1%), while the share remained stable in Belgium.
With regards to Malta, all three categories saw increases.
The persons at risk of poverty after social transfers increased from 15.3% to 15.7; the persons severely materially deprived saw more than doubled, from 4.3% to 9.5%; and the persons aged 0-59 living in households with a very low labour intensity increased from 8.6% to 9.0%