Skopje, 2 June 2025 (MIA) - In 2024, 19.5 million children in the EU were at risk of poverty or social exclusion. This figure represented 24.2% of children under the age of 18, down by 0.6 percentage points (pp) from 2023 (24.8%), the Eurostat said.

At the country level, in 2024, the highest values were reported in Bulgaria (35.1%), Spain (34.6%) and Romania (33.8%). In contrast, Slovenia (11.8%), Cyprus (14.8%) and Czechia (15.4%) registered the lowest shares.

Compared with 2023, Romania registered the largest decrease in the share of children at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2024, -5.2 pp, followed by Ireland (-3.7 pp) and Hungary (-3.3 pp). On the other hand, Finland (+3.5 pp), Croatia (+2.0 pp), Bulgaria and Belgium (both +1.2 pp) observed the largest increases.

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