In 2023, 9.5% of the EU population were unable to afford a meal containing meat, fish or a vegetarian equivalent every second day, 1.2 percentage points (pp) higher compared with 2022 (8.3%).
Moreover, focusing on people at risk of poverty in 2023 the share at the EU level was 22.3%, indicating a 2.6 pp increase compared with 2022 (19.7%). At the national level, the highest share of people at risk of poverty unable to afford a proper meal was recorded in Slovakia (45.7%), followed by Hungary (44.9%) and Bulgaria (40.2%). On the other hand, the lowest share was recorded in Ireland (4.2%), followed by Cyprus (5.0%) and Portugal (5.9%).
Latvia ranks in the middle of the pack with 7.7% of the general population unable to afford a square meal, with the figure rising to 18.4% among people at risk of poverty – better than the EU average in both cases.
The capacity to afford a meal with meat, fish or vegetarian equivalent every second day is among the items observed at the household level to calculate the severe material and social deprivation rate. This is one of the headline indicators of the European Pillar of Social Rights – Social Scoreboard of indicators.
