In the EU in 2020, the severe material and social deprivation rate among young people (aged 15-29 years) was 7%. When compared with 2019, this increased by 2 percentage points (pp). The severe material and social deprivation rate among the total population was the same (7%).
Among the EU Member States, the highest proportion of young people who were severely materially and socially deprived in 2020 was recorded in Romania (24%), followed by Bulgaria (21%) and Greece (16%). On the other hand, the proportion was less than 3% in 11 of the 26 Member States with available data: Luxembourg, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Slovenia, Poland, Netherlands, Czechia, Cyprus, Sweden and Austria.
Bar graph: Severe material and social deprivation rate, 2020 and 2019, as % of young people aged 15-29 years old in the EU and EFTA countries
When comparing 2020 with 2019, the largest increases in the severe material and social deprivation rate for young people were recorded in Romania, Ireland and Germany (all +3 pp; break in time series for Ireland and Germany). Meanwhile, the largest decreases were recorded in Slovakia (-2 pp), Finland, Greece and Croatia (all -1 pp).
When comparing 2020 with 2019 amongst sub age groups, Romania recorded the largest increases in the proportions of 15-19-year-olds and 25-29-year-olds who were severely materially and socially deprived (around +4 pp). When it came to 20-24-year-olds, the largest increase was recorded in Ireland (+5 pp).
At the other end of the scale, the largest decreases were recorded in Slovakia (-4 pp among 15-19-year-olds), Malta (-3 pp among 20-24-year-olds) and Greece (-2 pp among 25-29-year-olds).
