Portugal ranks considerably better than European average
Last year 3% of the Portuguese population could not afford a meal with a protein (meat, fish, or vegetarian equivalent) every two days, according to Eurostat.
The number increased from 2.4 per cent the previous year – but in relative terms Portugal is still doing a lot better than the European average
Says Eurostat, the European average for this level of economic difficulty stood at 8.3% in 2022, (also up by a full percentage point from 2021’s data).
In terms of places, Portugal ranks 21st out of 27, bettered only by Finland (2.6%), Sweden (2.4%), Denmark (2.2%), Luxembourg (1.8%), Cyprus (1.5%), and Ireland (1.5%).
Among Portuguese citizens already at risk of poverty – i.e. with incomes below 60% of the median equivalised disposable income – the percentage of people unable to afford a square meal every two days was up to 7.2% last year. That is quite an increase on 2021, where the percentage came in at 5.9%.
Countries with the highest percentage of people at risk of poverty unable to afford a meal with meat, fish, or a vegetarian equivalent are Bulgaria (44.6%), Romania (43%), and Slovakia (40.5%). In the EU, the average for this share of the population grew from 17.5% to 19.7% in 2022.
The lowest percentages for this population at risk of poverty were in Ireland, with 5%; Luxembourg, with 5.1%; and Cyprus, with 5.6%.
Source: SIC economia
