Spain exceeds 2.1 million people in poverty

Spain should have 2.1 million fewer people in a situation of poverty and social exclusion to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), according to the Report “The State of Poverty in the Autonomous Communities”, prepared by the European Network Fight against Poverty and Social Exclusion in the Spanish State (EAPN-ES).

“To comply, we should have 10.2 million people in AROPE, however we have 12.3 million, we are exceeded by 2.1 million“, said the head of EAPN-ES Research, Juan Carlos Llano, this Monday, during the presentation of the study, at the headquarters of the ONCE Foundation in Madrid.

Despite this data, the report highlights that poverty and social exclusion fell in all the autonomous communities in 2022 compared to the previous year. In total, there were 12.3 million people in this situation, 26 % of the population, 800,000 fewer people than the previous year.

However, the improvement continues to be “insufficient”, according to EAPN-ES, since the country is “still far” from meeting the objectives established in the Agenda which, in its goal 1.2, establishes that by 2030 it should have been reduced” at least half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions”. In the case of Spain, this means that in 2030 there should be a maximum of 6.6 million people at risk of poverty or exclusion.

In addition, the report finds that there is an “enormous” inequality gap between the northern and southern regions of Spain. The data reflects a division into “two halves” and, although it notes “a process of reduction” in territorial inequality since 2016, it points out that “it is still very insufficient” since the regional AROPE and Severe Material and Social Deprivation (PMSS) rates The highest ones multiply by 2.5 and by 3, respectively, the lowest ones.

Specifically, the report highlights that, in 2022, in the southern regions, that is, Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha, the Valencian Community, Murcia, Andalusia, the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, the AROPE rate reached 33.1 % of the resident population (close to 5.5 million people), a figure that is reduced to almost 20.5 % (6.8 million people) for those who live in the northern half of the country.

Regarding severe poverty, that is, people living in households with an income of less than 6,725 euros per consumption unit per year (560 euros per month), in 2022 there were a total of 4.2 million people in this category in Spain. situation, that is, 8.9 % of the population.

Source: dpa

(Reference image source: Carlos Luján, Europa Press)

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