Slovenia records EU’s lowest severe material and social deprivation rate in 2024

In 2024, Slovenia registered the lowest share of people facing severe material and social deprivation in the European Union — just 1.8%, compared with the EU average of 6.4%.

This places Slovenia ahead of Croatia (2.0%) and Poland (2.3%), highlighting the country’s strong social resilience and effective welfare measures, CE Report quotes Eurostat.

Across the EU, 6.4% of people experienced severe material and social deprivation, marking a slight improvement from 6.8% in 2023. Young people under 18 were the most affected group (7.9%), followed by adults aged 18–64 (6.4%) and older people aged 65 and over (5.1%).

Women continued to face higher deprivation rates than men (6.6% compared with 6.2%), a pattern observed across most age groups.

At the other end of the spectrum, Romania (17.2%), Bulgaria (16.6%), and Greece (14.0%) recorded the highest levels of severe material and social deprivation in the EU, underscoring persistent regional disparities in living standards across the bloc.