According to Statistics Estonia, 20.2% of Estonia’s population lived at risk of poverty and 2.7% in absolute poverty in 2023; compared with 2022, the share of people living at risk of poverty decreased by 2.3 percentage points and the share of those living in absolute poverty by 0.8 percentage points.
The share of people living in self-perceived deprivation was up by 1.5 percentage points in 2024.
Epp Remmelg, a leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, the country’s official statistics agency, said that the at-risk-of-poverty rate reflects income inequality in a country.
“In 2023, close to 274,800 people lived at risk of poverty – nearly 29,000 fewer than in 2022. Their net monthly income, taking into account household composition, ie the equivalised disposable income, was less than €807,” Remmelg said.
Income grew mainly due to increases in child benefits and pensions
The analyst noted that, over the years, the at-risk-of-poverty rate has been highest among the elderly living alone and lone parent households.
“However, we see that in 2023, the at-risk-of-poverty rate decreased the most among these households, as well as among households with three or more children,” she added.
Of people aged 65 and over living alone, 71% were at risk of poverty, down by eight percentage points from the year before.
“30.5% of lone parent households lived at risk of poverty, which is 4.3 percentage points lower than a year earlier,” the analyst said.
She noted that, among working-age households with no children and two-parent households, the at-risk-of-poverty rate remained the same or increased by a few percentage points.
“This can be explained by the fact that, in 2023, the equivalised disposable income rose by 8%, but with the overall increase in income, child benefits and pensions increased more in percentage terms than earned income,” she said.
More: https://estonianworld.com/life/poverty-rate-in-estonia-down-perceived-deprivation-up/
