Survey on Living Conditions. 2023
Infographic
The at risk of poverty or social exclusion rate (AROPE rate - EU 2030 Target) in Catalonia was 24.4% in 2023, 3 tenths less than in 2022 (24.7%). The reduction in this rate was due to the reduction in the at-risk-of-poverty rate, which stood at 18.0% (19.9% in 2022), and also to the decrease in the population with low work intensity, which came to 6.6%, 2 tenths less than in the previous year. By contrast, the population living in severe material and social deprivation increased, standing at 8.9% compared with 8.0% in the previous year.
By age, the AROPE rate has only fallen in the population aged 65 and over, with a rate of 16.2%, 3.4 percentage points lower than in the previous year. The population aged less than 16 had a rate of 33.1% (six tenths higher than in 2022) and the population aged 16 to 64 registered a rate of 24.7% (four tenths higher than in the previous year).
By household composition, the AROPE rate for households with dependent children rose and came to 28.6% (28.1% in 2022); in contrast, the rate for households without dependent children fell and stood at 20.0% (20.8% in 2022).
In terms of indicators of the level of household deprivation (which capture subjective aspects of living conditions), 36.1% of the population said they could not afford unforeseen expenses of 800 €, a figure that represents an increase of 1.3 percentage points compared to 2022. The population reporting not being able to keep their home at an adequate temperature was 20.0% (19.2% in 2022). In contrast, the population saying they could not afford a week’s holiday per year was 29.8% (30.9% in 2022).
Meanwhile, the number of people living in households who reported they could easily make ends meet was 53.1% (51.2% in 2022). Thus, the percentage of the population who said they had difficulty making ends meet was down to 46.5% (48.5% in 2022).
Regarding income distribution, it should be borne in mind that the information on income, social benefits and work intensity provided by the Survey on Living Conditions 2023 refers to 2022. The average net income of Catalan households was 38,888 € and 15,830 € per person in 2022, an increase of 7.5% and 7.7% respectively compared to the previous year. Income distribution inequality indicators fell slightly in 2023. The S80/S20 indicator stood at 5, one tenth lower than in 2022. This indicator shows that the 20% of households with the highest income had 5 times the income of the 20% of the most disadvantaged households. As for the Gini coefficient, it was 29.9% in 2023 (30% in the previous year). A Gini coefficient of 0% equals maximum equality and 100% equals maximum inequality.
In 2023, the at-risk-of-poverty threshold rose by 6.1% to 12,564.20 € for single-person households. The at-risk-of-poverty rate before all types of social transfers was 40.2%. This rate became 23.9% when old-age and surviving pensions were considered, and 18% when all social transfers (including unemployment and disability benefits and family or child allowances) were considered. In 2022, these percentages were 42.4%, 26.8% and 19.9%, respectively.
The microdata for this statistic are available in the Microdata section of the Idescat website.