A fifth of the Maltese population living in private households were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2021, according to statistics gathered by the National Statistics Office.

The NSO considered someone to be at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion if they are in at least one of the following states - at-risk-of-poverty, severely materially and socially deprived, or living in households with very low-work-intensity.

There were 103,329 (20.3%) such people in 2021, corresponding to 20.3% of the population living in private households.

At-risk-of-poverty 

For 2021, the at-risk-of-poverty threshold, set at 60% of the national equivalised income, was calculated at €10,222. Out of the population living in private households, 16.9% were estimated to be at-risk-of poverty, remaining unchanged from the previous year.

This is equivalent to around 85,754 persons. The largest share, 28.1%, was registered among elderly persons aged 65 and over. The relative median at-risk-of-poverty gap is an indicator which measures the extent to which the income of those persons who are at-risk-of-poverty falls below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold.

In 2021, this was estimated at 18.3%, an increase of 2.3 percentage points, when compared with a year earlier.