Eurostat the EU statistics agency published last week an inquiry on poverty and social exclusion in Europe, based on figures relating to 2001. A worrying situation emerges from it. According to the report, over 55 million European citizens (equivalent to some 15% of the overall population) are daily at risk of poverty. At the end of the document, the threshold of the “person at risk” was calculated by Eurostat as “all those who live in a family whose average income is less than 60% of the average income of their country of residence”. The lowest rates were registered in Ireland, (21%), Portugal and Greece (20%) and Italy (19%). The least affected by poverty are Sweden (9%) and Denmark (10%). For further information, consult the website http://.europa.eu.int/eurostat
