site.btaIn 2024, 1.9% of Bulgarian Children, 3.2% of EU Children Had Unmet Needs for Medical Care

In 2024, 1.9% of Bulgarian children had unmet needs for medical care, compared with 1.6% in 2021 and 2% in 2017, according to Eurostat data published on Tuesday. 

In 2024, 3.2% of children in the EU had unmet needs for medical care. This share was 3.0% for children living in households with a disposable income above the national at-risk-of-poverty threshold (60% of the median equivalised income) and 4.2% for those living in households with their disposable income below the threshold.

In Bulgaria, 6.4% of children living in households with a disposable income below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold had unmet needs for medical care, compared to 0.3% for those living in households above that threshold. The latter was the fourth lowest share in the EU. According to Eurostat, only Malta, Cyprus and Croatia recorded a lower share of children with unmet medical needs among households with incomes above the at-risk-of-poverty threshold, at 0.1% each.

In most EU countries, the share of children with unmet needs for medical care was higher in households with their disposable income below the threshold, with the largest difference (6.1 percentage points) observed in Bulgaria.