Those at risk of poverty or social exclusion in Cyprus has fallen to 23.9% (205,900 people) after reaching a peak of 28.9% as a consequence of the financial crisis.
The government welcomed the improved data, offering it as tangible proof that its economic strategy was working to make life better for ordinary Cypriots.
“We see that social cohesion has gradually but steadily been enhanced through the growth of our economy,” said Finance Minister Harris Georgiades.
“All indicators tracking economic inequality, poverty and social exclusion risks are now back to pre-crisis levels and are close to or even better than the European average,” he added.
According to official data, 23.9% of the Cyprus population was living in households whose disposable income was below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold or living in severely materially deprived households or with very low work intensity.
This indicator improved compared with the previous year’s 25.2%, continuing its downward trend after peaking at a record of 28.9% in 2015.
“Risk of poverty or social exclusion rates that were increasing continuously since 2008…have fallen sharply in 2018, reaching pre-crisis levels. The relative poverty rate also shows a similar downward trend,” said government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou.
Percentage of the population at-risk-of-poverty, meaning disposable income was below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold, showed a small decrease to 15.4% from 15.7% in 2017. The highest percentage that this indicator has ever reached was 16.2% in 2015.
The at-risk-of-poverty threshold in 2018 increased to €9,202 for single-person households (up from €8,698 in 2017) and €19,323 for households with 2 adults and 2 dependent children (from €18,266).
Those severely materially deprived, meaning that they could not afford to pay their rent or utility bills or their loans, or keep their home adequately warm in winter, or to face unexpected but necessary expenses, decreased in 2018 to 10.2% from 11.5% in 2017.
Those aged 0-59, living in households with very low work intensity, meaning that adults in the household worked less than 20% of their work potential during the past year, also decreased to 8.6% from 9.4%.
Income Inequality
The mean annual disposable income of Cyprus households, with income reference period 2017, was €30,807, a minor 1.4% increase on the previous year’s €30,376.
Income inequality also narrowed among households.
Namely, the income share of the richest 20% was 4.3 times higher than the income share of the poorest 20%, the gap was 4.6 times in 2017.
The data collection was carried out with personal and telephone interviews and electronic questionnaires using a random sample of 4,192 households.
