People at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2022

In 2022, 95.3 million people in the EU (22% of the population) were at risk of poverty or social exclusion, i.e. lived in households experiencing at least one of the three poverty and social exclusion risks: risk of poverty, severe material and social deprivation, and/or living in a household with very low work intensity. The figure remained relatively stable compared with 2021 (95.4 million, 22% of the population). This information comes from data on people at risk of poverty or social exclusion published by Eurostat today. This article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article. Source dataset: ilc_peps01n The shares of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion varied across the EU countries in 2022. The highest values were reported in Romania (34%), Bulgaria (32%), Greece and Spain (both 26%). On the other hand, the lowest shares were recorded in Czechia (12%), Slovenia (13%) and Poland (16%).

Unemployment rate varied widely across EU regions

In 2022, the unemployment rate of people aged 15-74 in the EU was 6.2%. However, the rate varied across the EU’s NUTS 2 regions. The lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Central Bohemia (1.2%), Prague (1.6%), South-East and South-West in Czechia as well as Central Transdanubia in Hungary (all 1.7%). At the opposite end of the scale, the highest unemployment rates were registered in the Spanish regions of Ceuta (28.4%), Melilla (21.6%) and Andalusia (19.0%), along with the outermost region Guadeloupe in France (18.6%). Source dataset: lfst_r_lfu3rt Compared with 2021, the highest increases in the unemployment rate were registered in the Spanish regions of Melilla and Ceuta (both +1.8 percentage points; pp), as well as in the outermost region of Guadeloupe in France (+1.5 pp). The highest decreases were recorded in the South Aegean region in Greece (-8.1 pp), the Canary Islands region in Spain (-5.6 pp) and Western Greece (-4.9 pp). Almost 2 percentage point decrease for young people In 2022, the EU average unemployment rate for young people aged between 15 and 29 was 11.3% (-1.7 pp compared with 2021). Source dataset: lfst_r_lfu3rt However, there were marked regional differences in the unemployment rates for young people. The regions with the lowest rates were Central Bohemia (1.7%), South-West (3.1%) and Prague (3.2%) in Czechia, Upper Bavaria in Germany (3.3%), closely followed by West Transdanubia in Hungary (3.6%). In contrast, the highest rates were recorded in Ceuta in Spain (42.4%), the Greek region of Thessaly (39.8%), Central Greece (36.5%), and another region in Spain, Melilla (36.1%). Campania and Sicily in Italy (both 34.2%) and West Macedonia in Greece (34.3%) also had high rates of unemployment among young people.