Poverty: a European perspective

Comparing poverty levels in Ireland with those across Europe provides useful context. Eurostat publishes comparable “at risk of poverty” statistics for all EU member states, measuring the proportion of people living below the poverty threshold. These figures are based on a poverty line set at 60 per cent of each country’s median income and use standardised EU definitions of income and equivalence scales to ensure comparability. The most recent data available for all member states relates to 2024.

As shown in Table 1, Ireland’s risk of poverty is lower than the EU average. Ireland first recorded a below-average poverty rate in 2008, largely due to sustained increases in welfare payments in the years leading up to that period. Since then, Irish poverty rates have consistently remained below the EU average. In 2024, the highest poverty rates in the EU were recorded in Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Croatia, and Estonia. The lowest rates were found in Czechia, Belgium, Denmark, and Netherlands. Ireland’s poverty rate of 12 per cent in 2023 was the lowest recorded since Eurostat began collecting these data in 1995, while the 2024 rate was the second lowest on record. These favourable outcomes reflect the effective targeting of temporary cost-of-living supports towards low-income households, people living alone, and children.

Table 1: The Risk of Poverty in the European Union, 2024

The average risk of poverty in the EU-27 for 2024 was 16.2 per cent. Overall, while there have been some reductions in poverty in recent years across the EU, the data suggests that poverty remains a large and ongoing EU-wide problem. In 2024 the average EU-27 level implied that 72 million people live in poverty across the EU. 

The 2026 EU Anti-Poverty Strategy is a welcome shift toward a more coordinated and rights-based approach to tackling poverty. By combining employment, social protection, and access to services, it moves beyond fragmented policies toward a holistic framework. If successfully implemented, the strategy could significantly reduce inequality and improve living standards across Europe. However, its ultimate impact will depend not on ambition alone, but on sustained political will and effective action at every level of governance.