Romanians, most exposed in the EU at risk of poverty and social exclusion

Approximately 40.2% of Romania’s population was exposed in 2014 to the risk of poverty and social exclusion, a situation which placed it first in the European Union, given that, in the EU, 122 million people, or 24.4% of the population, were in this situation, according to data released on Friday by Eurostat.
In the EU one in four people is at risk of poverty and social exclusion, while in three Member States more than a third of the population is at risk: Romania (40.2%), Bulgaria (40.1%) and Greece (36%). In contrast, the lowest risk is registered in the Czech Republic (14.8%), Sweden (16.9%), the Netherlands (17.1%), Finland (17.3%) and Denmark (17.8%).
However, Romania is among the first EU Member States which, during 2008-2014, have made the most progress in reducing the risk of poverty and social exclusion, given that this risk decreased by four percentage points, a larger reduction in the EU being registered only by Poland, i.e. 5.8 percentage points.
In contrast, in 14 Member States the risk of poverty and social exclusion increased during the same interval, the highest increases were registered in Greece – 7.9 percentage points, Spain – 4.7 pp, and Cyprus – 4.1 pp.
At EU level, the share of population affected by the risk of poverty and social exclusion increased from 23.8% in 2008 to 24.4% in 2014. The reduction in this rate is one of the main objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy.