Population below the poverty threshold

According to the 2024 EU-SILC survey, 7.7% of the residents in the Flemish Region lived in a household with a household income (open definition) below the Belgian poverty threshold (open definition) . That corresponds to approximately 520,000 inhabitants. It is assumed that households with an income below the poverty threshold are at an increased risk of poverty.

The above figures were calculated based on the total disposable income of households in the year preceding the survey. The 2024 EU-SILC survey figures therefore refer to 2023 household incomes.

The EU-SILC survey was thoroughly updated in 2019. Caution is therefore advised when making comparisons with the results of previous years. It can be said that since 2021, the proportion of people living below the poverty threshold seems to stabilise at a slightly lower level than in previous years.

The differences in poverty risk according to gender remain limited. There are differences by age: the share below the poverty threshold was higher both among the oldest group (people aged 65 and older) and the youngest group (0 to 15) in 2024.

Broken down by household type, the risk of poverty in 2024 was highest among single-parent families (22%).

By employment status, the unemployed have the highest risk of poverty (27%). Inactive people (excluding pensioners) also score relatively high (14%).

The risk of poverty in 2024 was also much higher among tenants (15%) than among home owners (6%).

The risk of poverty decreases as the level of education increases: among the highly educated inhabitants it was 4% in 2024, and 13% among the low educated inhabitants.

People born in Belgium have the lowest risk of poverty (6%), people born outside the European Union (EU27) have the highest risk of poverty (26%).

The risk of poverty in 2024 was highest in the province of Antwerp (11%) and lowest in the province of East Flanders (6%).

In Belgium, the poverty risk in 2023 was 12%. This places Belgium in the group of countries with a poverty risk below the EU27 average (16%). In the Flemish Region, the poverty risk (8%) in 2023 was lower than in the Walloon Region (15%). The proportion of people living below the poverty threshold is much higher in the Brussels Region (28%) than in the other Belgian regions.

The risk of poverty was the lowest in the Czech Republic in 2023 (10%). In Hungary, Slovenia, Poland and Slovakia, the share below the poverty threshold was at a similar level as in the Western and Northern European countries, while the standard of living in the first group of countries is lower. This is related to the fact that this is a relative poverty measure, calculated on the basis of the income distribution in each country separately. In countries with lower overall living standards, median income may be lower. Consequently, the poverty threshold is also lower, which may result in a relatively lower poverty risk even if purchasing power is lower there.

Figures for 2024 are not yet available for all EU countries. But this is the case for Belgium and the regions. In 2024, the risk of poverty in the Flemish Region was 8%, in the Walloon Region at 14% and in the Brussels-Capital Region at 27%. In Belgium as a whole it was 12%.