In 2023, Italy experienced its highest poverty rate in a decade, with 5.75 million individuals living in absolute poverty, according to data from the National Statistical Office ISTAT reported by Finanza Italia.
This figure represents 9.8% of the population, a slight increase from 9.7% in 2022 and the highest rate since data collection began in 2014.
Absolute poverty, as defined by ISTAT, refers to the inability to afford necessities for an acceptable standard of living.
Despite Italy’s economy rebounding more strongly from the COVID-19-induced recession of 2020-2021 compared to neighbouring countries like Germany and France, the ISTAT report suggests that the recovery has had limited impact on the country’s most economically vulnerable groups.
During the peak of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, government support measures helped cushion the recession’s effects on families, keeping the percentage of those living in absolute poverty at 9.1% and 9%, respectively.
Italy’s poverty rate has been steadily rising since 2014 when ISTAT began its data collection, except for a decrease in 2019.
Notably, during the pandemic, mafia organizations in Italy provided free food to low-income families who lacked financial resources due to quarantine measures.
Furthermore, nearly 2.2 million children and young people under 18 years old were reportedly at risk of poverty in Germany during the same period.
