The results of the Survey on Living Conditions and Income, carried out in 2023 on incomes from the previous year, indicate that 17.0% of people were at-risk-of-poverty in 2022, 0.6 percentage points (pp) more than in 2021. The at-risk-of-poverty rate corresponded, in 2022, to the proportion of inhabitants with net monetary income (per equivalent adult) below EUR 7,095 euros (EUR 591 per month).

The increase in poverty affected all age groups, although more significantly those under 18 years of age (2.2 pp more compared to the previous year). The at-risk-of-poverty rate for working-age adults increased by 0.4 pp and that of the elderly population increased by 0.1 pp.

The increase in the at-risk-of-poverty rate affected women more significantly (up 0.9 pp, from 16.8% in 2021 to 17.7% in 2022) than men (up 0.3 pp, from 15.9 % in 2021 to 16.2% in 2022).

In 2022, 22.7% of the population that had only completed basic education was poor, a figure significantly higher than the proportions of 13.5% for the population that had completed secondary or post-secondary education and 5.8% for the population that had completed higher education.

The at-risk-of-poverty rate for the employed population fell from 10.3% in 2021 to 10.0% in 2022, but increased for the unemployed population, from 43.4% to 46.4%.

Social transfers, related to illness and disability, family, unemployment and social inclusion, contributed to reducing the risk of poverty by 4.2 pp (from 21.2% to 17.0%), a lower contribution than that of the previous year (5.1 pp).

In 2023 (2022 incomes), 2,104 thousand people in Portugal were at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion (people at-risk-of-poverty or living in households with very low work intensity per capita or in situations of severe material and social deprivation). As a result, the poverty or social exclusion rate was 20.1%, the same as the previous year.

Inequality in income distribution increased in 2022, mainly when comparing the 10% of the population with the highest resources and the 10% of the population with the lowest resources, resulting in an S90/S10 ratio of 9.7, higher than the previous year (8.4). The Gini Coefficient also saw a significant increase, standing at 33.7% and rising by 1.7 pp compared to 2021 (32.0%). The S80/S20 ratio, which compares the sum of the equivalent net monetary income of the 20% of the population with the highest resources with the sum of the equivalent net monetary income of the 20% of the population with the lowest resources, increased from 5.1 in 2021 to 5.6 in 2022.