The European Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) revealed through a survey that the material and social deprivation rate stood at 9.8% in 2021.

The National Statistics Office reported on Tuesday about material and social deprivation, as well as severe material and social deprivation, which stood at 5.5% in the same year.

There was an increase of 0.4 percentage points in both rates when compared to 2020.

The data gathered is based on the perceived capacity, or otherwise, of households being able to afford a number of items from a set of 13 standard items.

A person is deemed materially and socially deprived if they do not afford at least five out of the 13 items, whilst does who do not afford at least seven of these items are considered severely materially and socially deprived, the NSO statistic reported.

The statistic showed that 33.1% of the surveyed population stated that their household could not afford to pay for a one-week holiday away from home annually. 15.7% said that their household could not afford an unexpected financial expense of €770 and over.

7.8% do not afford to keep their homes warm whilst another 7.8% said that their household was in arrears in mortgage or rent payments, utility bills, hire purchase instalments or other loan payments, the statistic stated.

6.1% could not afford basic needs such as replacing worn out clothes or having two pairs of properly fitting shoes, it said.

7.7% could not afford monthly get-togethers for a drink or a meal, whilst 10.4% could not regularly participate in a leisure activity.

Among the quality-of-life indicators, the percentage of females who could not afford items was higher than males.

11.8% could not afford to spend small amounts of money on themselves weekly, 12.9% of which fell under the 35- to 64-year-old age group. 2.5% stated that they do not have an available internet connection at home, the NSO statistic reported. 3.6% of those without internet connection were aged 65 and over.

5.5% of persons were deemed severely materially and socially deprived in 2021. 7.8% of them were children living in severely materially and socially deprived homes. 5.3% were adults aged between 18 to 64 years, and 4% were 65 years and over.

Taking into consideration households experiencing problems in their main home, 33.9% reported pollution, grime or other environmental problems, the statistic stated. 10.2% reported crime, violence or vandalism in the area.

45.3% declared that their household suffered from at least one problem in 2021.

Gozo and Comino recorded the largest drop in the share of households reporting at least one problem, with a decline of 4.1 percentage points from 2020, followed by the Northern Harbour district with a drop of 2.6 percentage point, NSO statistics stated.

The 13 material and social deprivation items include; households which cannot face unexpected financial expenses, households who cannot pay for one week’s annual holiday away from home, arrears on mortgage or rent payments, households who cannot afford a meal with chicken, meat, fish or vegetarian equivalent every second day, households which cannot keep the home adequately warm in winter, households which cannot afford a car, households which cannot replace worn-out furniture, persons who cannot replace worn-out clothes, persons who cannot afford having two properly fitting pairs of shoes, persons who cannot afford having pocket money for themselves, persons who do not have regular leisure activities, persons who cannot have get togethers for a drink or a meal at least monthly, and persons who do not have access to internet connection.