site.btaBulgaria with Second Highest Share in EU of Children at Risk of Poverty and Social Exclusion in 2022

Last year, 24.7% of children (nearly 20 million people aged less than 18 years old) in the EU were at risk of poverty or social exclusion, which is an increase of 0.3 percentage points compared to 2021. In Bulgaria, that share stood at 33.9% (411,000 people), placing the country second in the European Union, show Eurostat data published on Wednesday.

Among the EU Member States in 2022, the highest share of children at risk of poverty or social exclusion was recorded in Romania (41.5%) and the lowest, in Slovenia (10.3%).

In 2021, Bulgaria was third in the EU with 33.0% of children being at risk of poverty and social exclusion. Compared to the pre-pandemic 2019, last year their share dropped by 1.9 percentage points.