(17 October 2016) – After three consecutive increases between 2009 and 2012 to reach almost 25%, the proportion of persons at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the EU has since continuously decreased to return to its 2008 level (23.7%).
In 2015, more than a third of the population was at risk of poverty or social exclusion in three Member States: Bulgaria (41.3%), Romania (37.3%) and Greece (35.7%). At the opposite end of the scale, the lowest shares were recorded in the Czech Republic (14.0%), Sweden (16.0%), the Netherlands and Finland (both 16.8%), Denmark and France (both 17.7%).
The at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion rate has grown from 2008 to 2015 in fifteen Member States, with the highest increases being recorded in Greece (from 28.1% in 2008 to 35.7% in 2015, or +7.6 percentage points), Cyprus (+5.6 pp), Spain (+4.8 pp), Italy (+3.2 pp) and Luxembourg (+3.0 pp).
In contrast, the largest decreases among Member States were observed in Poland (from 30.5% to 23.4%, or -7.1 pp) and Romania (-6.9 pp), followed by Bulgaria (-3.5 pp) and Latvia (-3.3 pp).