8,000 more people stood at risk of poverty and social exclusion in Malta than in 2008, according to figures released by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical arm, yesterday.

The figures show how in 2008 the number of people at risk of poverty and social exclusion had stood at 81,000, a figure that had shot up to 89,000 by the end of 2018 – representing a concerning increase of close to per cent for this increasingly marginalised section of society.

But in terms of a percentage of the population, the rate decreased, from 20.1 per cent in 2008 to 19 per cent last year.

But this anomaly is explained by the country’s constantly growing population over the last decade, and it may mask the real problem that more and more people are finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet.

But it wasn’t all bad news, as the state broadcaster and the government were quick to point out, without going into the actual numbers of individuals involved.

TVM reported in its headline how Malta had the “least” number of people at risk of poverty and social exclusion in the EU, when, in actual fact, it ranks in 12 place.

The Family and Social Solidarity Ministry was also quick to cherry-pick the statistics, highlighting how the percentages lie below the EU average.  It also paid specific detail to 19 per cent risk rate.  In terms of severe material deprivation Maltese stood at three per cent, or 14,000 people, down from 4.3 per cent in 2008.

Malta is also doing pretty well in terms of households with low work intensity, with a 5.5 per cent rate, compared with a rate of 8.6 back in 2008 and compared with the EU average of nine per cent.