Some 0.3% of Malta’s population is living on just €2.50c per day, according to figures from a data aggregate publication.

According to Our World in Data, some 1,530 Maltese people are living in extreme poverty and severe material deprivation, living on an estimated €75 per month.

This comes after the World Bank recently adjusted the figure at which the poverty line is set from $1.90 to $2.15.

The United Nations-backed financial institution uses international dollars to express the figure, which is a unit of currency equivalent to a United States dollar at a given point in time. The adjustment in the international dollar now reflects 2017 prices, where it previously reflected 2011 prices.

Adjusted to reflect prices in 2022, the $2.15 corresponds to €2.52.

28,000 people in Malta struggle to meet their basic needs

Using figures from the World Bank Poverty and Inequality platform, Our World in Data (a UK-based scientific online publication) found that from 2009 to 2014, the share of the population living on the poverty line had been steadily declining, going from 0.43% or roughly 1,775 people in 2009 to a low of 0.0% in 2014.

However, since then, the trend in extreme poverty has been on the increase, shooting up to 0.3% in 2019. There was a dramatic increase in people living on the poverty line between 2018 and 2019, with the figure tripling from 0.1% or 501 people to 0.3% or 1,530 people, in the span of a year.

The data estimates that 8.4% of the global population, or some 648.1 million people were living on the poverty line in 2019.

According to data published by the National Statistics office last week, a fifth of Malta’s population was at risk of poverty or social exclusion last year, at a threshold of €10,222 in annual income. Those aged 65 and over were found to be at risk of poverty in greater numbers than any other age group.

An EU-wide survey published in April found that almost 28,000 people in Malta struggle to meet their basic needs and are considered to be severely deprived.