The Survey on Living Conditions and Income held in 2022 on previous year incomes shows that 16.4% of the population was at-risk-of-poverty in 2021, 2.0 percentage points (pp) less than in 2020. The at-risk-of-poverty rate in 2021 corresponded to the proportion of inhabitants with an annual net equivalent monetary income below EUR 6,608 (EUR 551 per month).

The decrease in the at-risk-of-poverty covered all age groups, although it was more significant for the elderly population (less 3.1 pp); the at-risk-of-poverty of those aged less than 18 years old decreased by 1.9 pp and that of working-age adults decreased by 1.6 pp.

The at-risk-of-poverty decreased for the employed (from 11.2% in 2020 to 10.3% in 2021) and for the unemployed population (from 46.5% in 2020 to 43.4% in 2021).

Social transfers related to sickness and disability, family, unemployment and social inclusion contributed to a reduction of 5.1 pp in the at-risk-of-poverty by 5.1 pp (from 21.5% to 16.4%), higher than in the previous year (4.6 pp).

In 2022 (incomes of 2021), in Portugal, 2,006 thousand people 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). Consequently, the at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion rate was 19.4%, i.e. 3.0 pp less than in the previous year.

Inequality decreased in 2021: the Gini Coefficient recorded a value of 32.0%, less 1,0 pp than in the previous year (33,0%), and 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, decreased, from 5.7 in 2020 to 5.1 in 2021. This behaviour can be explained by the evolution of the deciles of the income distribution: only the 30% of the population with the lowest incomes recorded an increase in the net monetary incomes between 2020 and 2021.

For 2022, the results of the Survey also show the improvement of the housing conditions of residents, especially for the population at-risk-of-poverty: the overcrowding rate decreased by 1.4 pp; the median housing cost was 10.2%, 0.3 pp less than in the previous year; the housing cost overburden rate reached 5.0% of the population, 0.9 pp less than in 2021.

Also in 2022, the percentage of people living in households unable to keep the home adequately warm due to economic difficulties increased to 17.5%, 1.2 pp more than in 2021.