Poverty in Germany: Every 5th is threatened – these are the criteria

Poverty in Germany: Every 5th is threatened – these are the criteria

New numbers
Every fifth in Germany is threatened by poverty






Despite the slight decline, many people remain at risk of poverty despite the slight decline. What does poverty mean and how do the numbers reflect?

Around a fifth of the population of poverty or social exclusion is still threatened. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the 2024 in Germany met around 17.6 million people. That was 20.9 percent of the population.

“The values ​​were slightly lower than in the previous year,” said the statisticians. In 2023, around 17.9 million people or 21.3 percent of the population were affected. The proportion had hardly changed in the previous years: in 2021 the rate was 21.0, and in 2022 21.1 percent.

What does “poverty” mean for Germany?

One person in the European Union is considered to be threatened by poverty or social exclusion if at least one of the following three conditions applies:

  • Your income is below the poverty risk limit
  • Your household is affected by considerable material and social deprivation
  • She lives in a household with a very low participation in employment.

The proportion of those affected in the population can be determined for each of these life situations.

How are the individual values?

For 2024, this breakdown resulted in the following figures:

  • 15.5 percent of the population was at risk of poverty. That means someone over Less than 60 percent of the middle income of the total population has. In 2024 this threshold was included 1,378 euros a month.
  • 6.0 percent of the population were affected by considerable material and social deprivation. This means that their living conditions were significantly limited due to lack of money. For example, those affected were unable to finance a one -week vacation trip.
  • 9.8 percent of the population under the age of 65 lived in a household with very low employment participation. This is the case, for example, if one person did not work at all in a household with two people and the other was only employed four months a year.

No comparison possible before 2020

The results come from European Community statistics on income and living conditions (EU-Silc). In Germany, the survey has been integrated into the microcensus since 2020. Because methodological changes were necessary, a comparison of the results from 2020 with previous years is not possible.

Dpa

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Source: Stern

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