Romania still has the EU's second highest percentage of population at risk of poverty or social exclusion, according to the latest figures from the EU's statistical office Eurostat. But it's not all bad news. The percentage at risk of poverty fell slightly in 2011 to 40.3 percent, from 41.4 percent in 2010, and the gap with Bulgaria, which has the highest at-risk percentage in the EU has grown. The EU deemed 41.6 percent of Bulgarians as at risk of poverty in 2010, while in 2011 the figure had leaped up to 49.1 percent.

Romania was one of only five countries where the percentage at risk of poverty had fallen. The EU average has also risen, nearly a quarter of all EU citizens were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2011. The figure for the EU 27 increased from 23.4 percent in 2010 to 24.2 percent in 2011.

Despite the fall, the figures are still depressingly high. Looking at the breakdown of the EU's figures, nearly 30 percent of Romania's population is described as “severely materially deprived,” second again only to Bulgaria and more than three times the 8.8 percent EU average. Although incidence and risk of poverty appear much higher in Romania than elsewhere in the Union, there was one area where Romania outperformed her peers. Only 6.7 percent of Romanians live in households with a very low work intensity, compared to the 10 percent EU average.

Other countries apart from Romania and Bulgaria with high percentages at risk of poverty and social exclusion were Latvia (40 percent), Lithuania (33 percent), Greece and Hungary (both 31 percent). The Czech Republic had the lowest percentage at risk in 2011, just 15 percent. Others with low rates included the Netherlands and Sweden (both 16 percent), Luxembourg and Austria (both 17 percent).

Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com

(photo source: sxc.hu)