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One in five people are at risk of poverty or social exclusion
A homeless man lies in his sleeping bag in a subway station in downtown Hamburg. 17.7 million people in Germany were at risk of poverty or exclusion in 2023. photo
© Marcus Brandt/dpa
Low income, material deprivation, low labor force participation – statisticians summarize these three points in one figure. Millions of people in Germany are affected.
The number of people in Germany who are poor or socially disadvantaged The number of people at risk of exclusion remains high. As the Federal Statistical Office announced based on the initial results of a survey on income and living conditions (EU-SILC), a good 17.7 million people were affected by this in 2023. That was 21.2 percent of the population. Compared to the previous year, the values remained almost unchanged.
A person is considered to be at risk of poverty or exclusion in the European Union if at least one of the following three conditions applies: their income is below the at-risk-of-poverty line, their household is affected by severe material and social deprivation, or they live in a household with very low levels of poverty Labor force participation. For each of these life situations, the percentage of those affected can be determined.
– In 2023, around one in seven people was at risk of poverty – 14.3 percent of the population or almost twelve million people. In 2022, the at-risk-of-poverty rate was 14.8 percent.
– Significant material and social deprivation affected 6.9 percent of the population, or 5.7 million people. In 2022 it was 6.2 percent.
– 9.8 percent of the population under 65, or 6.2 million people, lived in a household with very low labor force participation. In 2022 it was also 9.8 percent.