BRUSSELS 

One in five people in the EU is at risk of poverty or social exclusion, the bloc's statistical office said on Friday.

“In 2020, there were 75.3 million people at risk of poverty in the EU,” Eurostat said in a press release, adding that "27.6 million were severely materially and socially deprived, and 27.1 million lived in a household with low work intensity.”

In total, 96.5 million people representing 21.9% of the EU population fell into at least one of the three above-mentioned categories of poverty and exclusion risks.

About 5.9 million people simultaneously experienced risk of poverty, social and material deprivation and lived in a household with low work.

Among the 27 EU member states, Romania has the highest share of the population at risk of poverty or social exclusion with 35.8% of its citizens experiencing at least one of these difficulties.

The southeastern European country is followed by Bulgaria, Greece, and Spain, with 33.6%, 27.5%, and 27% of its people at the risk, respectively.

Meanwhile, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Slovenia had the lowest share of their population at risk of poverty or social exclusion with 11.5%, 13.8%, and 14.3%, respectively.