Almost 4 million Greeks were at risk of poverty last year

The worrying results after 8 years of crisis

According to the ELSTAT, 35,6% of the Greece’s population or 3.789.300 people were at risk of poverty or social exclusion last year, showing a slight decrease compared to the previous year (3.828.500 people, representing 35,7% of the population). The poverty threshold amounts to 4.500 Euros per year per person and 9.450 Euros for households with two adults and two dependent children under the age of 14, while the average annual disposable income of its households is estimated at 14.932 Euro.

According to ELSTAT, the risk of poverty or social exclusion is higher for people aged 18-64 (39,7%) and estimated for Greeks 38% and for foreigners residing in Greece at 59,7%.

Households at risk of poverty are estimated at 832.065 of a total of 4.168.784 households and their members in 2.262.808 to a total of 10.651.929 people in the country.

The poverty risk for children aged 0-17 (child poverty) is 26,3%, a decrease of 0,3 percentage points compared to 2015. The poverty risk for people aged over 65 is 12,4 % showing a decrease of 1,3 percentage points compared to 2015.

There was an increase compared to 2015 regarding the population at risk of poverty as a whole in the case of:

* Employed women by 1,3 percentage points (12,3%)

* Unemployed 2,3 percentage points (47,1%). The increase is in both sexes, with the highest of women

* Households with two adults and three or more dependent children by 2,4 percentage points (32%)

* Households with two adults under age 65 by 2,3 percentage points (20,1%)

Compared to other countries with data available for 2016, Greece is in the third worst position (35,6%) on the risk of poverty or social exclusion, after Bulgaria (40,4%) and Romania (38,8%).

Following are Latvia (28,5%), Spain (27,9%), Hungary (26,3%), Belgium (20,7%), Austria (18% 6%).