Number of persons below at-risk of poverty estimated at 78,600 and rising

The European Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) survey is an annual enquiry conducted by the National Statistics Office among persons residing in private households in Malta and Gozo.

Income statistics refer to calendar year 2017, while non-income components (such as material deprivation) refer to 2018, which is the data collection year.

Key facts:

• The average gross household income for 2017 as derived from EU-SILC 2018, was estimatedat €33,573, while the average disposable hous hold income stood at €27,830.

• The survey shows that the number of persons living in households with a national equivalised income below the at-risk-of-poverty line (€8,868) was 78,685. This translates into an atrisk of-poverty rate of 16.8 per cent, 0.1 percentage points higher than that recorded for the previous year.

• In 2018, the severe material deprivation rate among persons living in households was 3.0 per cent. This figure is 0.3 percentage points less than the same rate estimated on the basis of EU-SILC 2017. The two most influential variables contributing to this decrease were: ability of households to spend one week’s annual holiday away from home; and ability of households to face unexpected financial expenses. • At 19.0 per cent, the at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion rate decreased by 0.3percentage points when compared to EU-SILC 2017. AROPE provides the share of personswho are either at-risk-of-poverty, severely materially deprived or residing in a household with low work intensity (applicable only for persons aged 0-59).