Istat poverty statistics – Year 2022

Absolute poverty is growing because of inflation

In 2022, little more than 2,18 million of households (8.3% of the total from 7.7% in 2021) and over 5.6 million individuals (9.7% up from 9.1% the previous year)  were in condition of absolute poverty. This deterioration is largely due to the strong acceleration in inflation.

The incidence of absolute poverty among households with at least one non-national person was equal to 28.9%, but it stopped at 6.4% for households composed by national people only.

The relative poverty rate reached 10.1% (down from 10.9% in 2021) and households below the threshold were over 2, 6million.

Absolute poverty on the rise in Italy for households and individuals

In 2022, there were just over 2.18 million households in absolute poverty, for a total of over 5.6 million individuals. The phenomenon showed a greater diffusion compared to 2021; the incidence at the household level was equal to 8.3% and at the individual level reached 9.7% while, according to the reconstructed data, in 2021 the corresponding values were, 7.7% and 9.1% respectively.

To a larger extent, the observed increase was due to the strong acceleration in inflation recorded in 2022 (+8.7% change in the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices – HICP), whose impact was particularly high for poorer households (+12.1% annual price change estimated for the first fifth of households – cf. Glossary under fifth of households). The consumer spending of this section of the population, which also included households in absolute poverty, despite strong growth in current terms, did not kept pace with inflation, leading to a decrease in real terms of their equivalent expenditure by     -2.5% (on this aspect see the Statistical Report “Household consumption expenditure” of 18 October 2023).

Social bonuses for energy and gas – greatly increased in 2022 both in terms of number of beneficiaries and amount – have contained the growth of poverty; it was estimated that this measure has reduced the incidence of poverty by seven tenths of a point.

In Southern regions, the number of households in absolute poverty has risen from 10.1% in 2021 to 10.7%, with a peak in the South (11.2%) followed by the North-East (7.9%) and the North-West (7.2%); the Centre confirmed the lowest rates (6.4%).

Among poor households 41.4% is resident in the Southern regions (41.7% in 2021) and 42.9% in the North (42.6% in 2021).

The intensity of absolute poverty, which measures in percentage terms the monthly spending of poor households was on average below the poverty line (that is, how “poor are the poor”), showed a slight reduction at a national level (18.2%, from 18.9% in 2021), with different trends within the breakdowns: basically it was stable in the North, down in the Centre (17.1%, to 18.2% in 2021), and in the Southern regions (19.3% to 20.7% in 2021).

Compared to the type of municipality of residence, the incidence of poverty was higher for smaller municipalities, up to 50 thousand inhabitants (other than suburban metropolitan area municipalities), with an increase in values compared to 2021 at the national level (8.8% to 7.9% in 2021) particularly in the North (8.1% from 6.9% in 2021; in the Northwest 7.9% compared to 6.6% in 2021). In the South there was an improvement in the central municipalities of the metropolitan area (10.1% compared to 14.7% in 2021), while the suburbs of the metropolitan area and municipalities over 50,000 inhabitants, saw an increase of the incidence, which reached 11.6% from 9.4% in 2021.

The increase of the incidence at individual level, observed in 2022, was the result of a more marked increase in the South (12.7% from 11.8%), especially in the Islands (11.3% from 10%), but also in the North (8.5% compared to 7.7%), and both in the North-West (8.3% compared to 7.5%) and in the North-East (8.8% to 8.1%). The exception is the Centre, where individual incidence kept stable. Southern Italy had more than 2,5 million people in absolute poverty in 2022 against about 2,29 million residents in the northern regions. The incidence of absolute individual poverty among children was 13.4% (nearly 1.27 million people, 12.6% in 2021); it is 12.0% among young people aged 18-34 (equal to 1,157 million individuals), higher than 2021 (when it was 11.1%); same trend for the over 65 (6.3%, nearly 881 thousand people, compared to 5.5% in 2021), despite the incidence remained below the national average.

Households with 3 or more children in a worse condition

Even in 2022 the incidence of absolute poverty was higher among households with a higher number of members: it reached 22.5% among households with five and more members and 11.0% among those with four. Signs of worsening come from the households of three components (8.2% from 6.9%).

The most marked discomfort was observed for households with three or more minors where the incidence was 22.3%; and, more generally, for couples with three or more children (20.7%). High values (15.6%) have also been observed for households of other types, where more than one household live together, as well as for single-parent households (11.5%). The incidence of absolute poverty for households where the age of the reference person (r.p.) is higher than 65 was lower (4.6% for couples in which the r.p. is 65 years or more) although in households with at least one elderly person there was a worsening in comparison to 2021 (6.5% from 5.8%). In general, decreasing rates of incidence have been confirmed as the age of the referring person increases; younger households had lower spending capacity because they had lower average incomes and lower life savings or inherited assets.

Education and work: protection against poverty

The incidence of absolute poverty has decreased with the increase in the educational qualification of the reference person of the household; if the latter has obtained at least the upper secondary school diploma, the incidence was equal to 4.0% in 2022, and reached 12.5% if they have up to a middle school license, worsening compared to 2021. High rates of poverty incidence have been confirmed for households with a working r.p. and assimilated (14.7%) and, among households with an independent r.p., especially for those who have worked independently other than being entrepreneur or self-employed (8.5% other independent). In comparison with 2021, there was a worsening for households with a retired person (5.9% from 4.6% in 2021), although the highest figures were recorded for households with a job-seeker r.p. (22.4%), in line with the previous year.