More than 17% of Romania\u2019s population faced severe material and social deprivation last year, which was one of the highest shares in the EU, according to the statistical bureau of the European Union – Eurostat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2024, 6.4% of people in the European Union faced severe material and social deprivation, a slight decrease compared to 2023 (6.8%). The most affected category was young people under 18, with a European average of 7.9%, followed by those aged 18-64 (6.4%) and those over 65 (5.1%), the report shows<\/a>.<\/p>\n Women had higher rates of severe material and social deprivation than men (6.6% compared with 6.2%). This pattern of higher rates for women was consistent across all observed age groups, except for those under the age of 18.\u00a0<\/p>\n Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece are the EU countries with the highest shares of population facing severe material and social deprivation, with 17.2%, 16.6%, and 14% respectively, according to Eurostat.\u00a0<\/p>\n At the opposite end, the lowest percentages are in Slovenia (1.8%), Croatia (2%), and Poland (2.3%).\u00a0<\/p>\n