In 2025, 18.6% of the population in Portugal was at risk of poverty or social exclusion, a figure that remains below the European Union (EU) average of 20.9%, the European statistics office, Eurostat, announced today.
This indicates that nearly two million people in Portugal lived last year in households facing at least one of three specific risks: monetary poverty, severe material and social deprivation, or living in a household with very low work intensity. Compared to 2024, the percentage of people at risk of poverty in Portugal fell by 1.1 percentage points.
A downward trend was also observed across the EU as a whole, with the number of people at risk of poverty or exclusion dropping from 93.3 million in 2024 to 92.7 million last year—a decrease of approximately 600,000 people.
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The highest percentages of the population at risk in 2025 were recorded in Bulgaria (29.0%), followed by Greece (27.5%) and Romania (27.4%). Conversely, the lowest rates were documented in the Czech Republic (11.5%), Poland (15.0%), and Slovenia (15.5%).
According to Eurostat data, the risk in 2025 was notably higher for women (21.9%) than for men (19.8%). Employment status also played a critical role in these statistics, with the risk rate standing at 10.9% for employed individuals compared to a staggering 66.3% for those who are unemployed. Furthermore, more than one-fifth (22.1%) of the EU population living in households with dependent children was found to be at risk of poverty or social exclusion.
