Relative poverty increased in Finland in 2019.
Last year, some 29,000 more people joined the statistics for the population that does not reach the income threshold that keeps them - at least statistically - safe from falling into poverty. For 2019, this threshold was calculated at 1,280 euros per month.
According to Statistics Finland's income distribution study, the number of people belonging to households at risk of poverty was 669,000 in 2019. And the share of the population at risk of poverty was 12.3%, which is 0.5% percentage points higher than in 2018, when the number of people belonging to households at risk of poverty was 640,000.
The relative risk of poverty has varied in the past ten years between 623,000 and 728,000 people, when the used at-risk-of-poverty threshold is 60% of the median income.
In 2019, the at-risk-of-poverty threshold in Finland was 15,330 euros per year for one-person households, that is, around 1,280 euros per month.
Source: Statistics Finland.
Highest in North Karelia
The share of population at risk of poverty is highest in North Karelia, where 18.8% faced this situation in 2019. And it was lowest in Åland, 8.8%.
In addition to Åland, the at-risk-of-poverty rates were lower than the country's average rate in Uusimaa, Ostrobothnia, Kanta-Häme and Central Ostrobothnia.
Risk-of-poverty indicator is calculated according to the methodology used by the statistical office of the European Union (Eurostat) and therefore it is internationally comparable.
