The number of people in Romania at risk of poverty stood at 3.59 million people in 2024, 375,000 fewer than in 2023, representing a 9.4% decrease, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics, or INS.
Despite the improvement, nearly one in five Romanians was affected by poverty last year. According to INS, 19% of the resident population lived in a household whose income was below the threshold set at 60% of the median disposable income per adult.
The poverty rate by gender in 2024 was slightly higher among women than among men (19% vs 18.9%). The highest incidence of poverty was found among people aged 0–17 (26.2%) and those aged 18–24 (22.2%).
The poverty rate for people living in households with children and dependent young people aged 18–24 was 22.6% in 2024 (down 2.5% from 2023), but higher by 8.6% than that of people living in households without minors and dependent young people.
The acute lack of financial resources means that some people cannot afford to own goods, make payments, or consume products that, in the current stage of socio-economic development, represent a minimum set of elements necessary for a decent standard of living.
In 2024, the severe material and social deprivation rate was 17.2%, down 2.6% compared to the previous year. The total number of people affected by severe material and social deprivation in 2024 was 3,266,000, with women being more affected (52.9%) than men (47.1%).
Among age groups, the incidence of severe material and social deprivation was higher mainly among people under 18 years old (21.2%) and the elderly aged 65 and over (19.6%).
The risk of poverty or social exclusion rate was 27.9% in 2024, corresponding to 5.3 million people. Compared to 2023, this represents a decrease of 4.1%, or 739,000 fewer people. The risk of poverty or social exclusion affects women more than men (28.4% of women vs 27.4% of men).
In this measurement, beyond gender, age plays an important role: in 2024, the AROPE indicator was higher for people aged 0–17 (33.8%) and young people aged 18–24 (31.3%), and lower for people aged 25–49 (22.9%). The proportion of people aged 65 and over who were at risk of poverty or social exclusion was 29.3%.
Finally, 17.3% of all employed persons aged 18 and over were at risk of poverty or social exclusion, compared to 37.5% of all unemployed persons in the same age group. People living in households without children and dependent youth aged 18–24 had a lower risk of poverty or social exclusion (24.5%) compared to those living in households with such dependents (30.4%).
The risk of poverty or social exclusion is also unequally distributed regionally. The highest rate was recorded in the South-East region (39.7%), closely followed by the South-West Oltenia region (35.1%), and the lowest rate was observed in the Bucharest-Ilfov region (12%).
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