Eurostat: Greece Tops EU in Subjective Poverty Rates

According to Eurostat data, Greece has the highest percentage of people in the EU who report struggling to make ends meet and feel poor. This rate in Greece reaches 66.8%, almost double that of Bulgaria, the second-highest country, where the corresponding rate is 37.4%. Slovakia follows with 28.7%.

Greece has shown a slow decrease in the rate of subjective poverty since 2019, remaining consistently above 66% in the last decade, in contrast to other Balkan countries such as Serbia and Romania, which have improved their rates.

The lowest rates of subjective poverty in the EU are recorded in the Netherlands and Germany (7.3%) and Luxembourg (8.5%). At the EU level, 17.4% of the population is considered subjectively poor, an improvement compared to 19.1% in 2023.

Subjective poverty refers to the feeling of households that they struggle to meet their needs, as opposed to objective poverty, which is based on income criteria.

In 2024, the rate of subjective poverty was highest among people under 18 years old (20.6%). Among people aged 18-64, 17.3% were considered subjectively poor, while for those over 65, the rate was 14.9%. All age groups showed a decrease from 2023 to 2024.

Eurostat defines subjective poverty as the state in which a household reports facing 'great difficulty' or 'difficulty' in meeting its needs.