Bulgaria Ranks Second in the EU for Working People At Risk of Poverty

According to the latest Eurostat data, 8.2% of people aged 18 and over who were employed or self-employed in the European Union in 2024 were at risk of poverty. The figures show that even having a job does not necessarily protect individuals from financial hardship, as many workers remain vulnerable despite being employed.

Bulgaria ranks among the EU countries with the highest proportion of working poor, with 11.8% of employed people facing the risk of poverty. Only Luxembourg recorded a higher rate, at 13.4%. At the opposite end, Finland reported the lowest percentage in the bloc, at just 2.8%.

The data also reveal a gender divide across the EU. On average, 7.3% of working women were at risk of poverty compared to 9.0% of men. In 22 EU member states, the share of men facing poverty while employed was higher than that of women. Romania showed the widest gap at 8.1 percentage points.

In Bulgaria, the difference between the two groups was 2.6 percentage points, with 13% of working men and 10.4% of working women affected in 2024. Meanwhile, in countries such as Germany, the rates were equal for both genders, while in the Czech Republic, Latvia, Cyprus and Luxembourg, working women were slightly more likely than men to be at risk of poverty.