WIESBADEN – The at-risk-of-poverty rate in Germany differs between the Länder. According to the European Union definition, the at-risk-of-poverty rate is the share of persons having to manage with less than 60% of the median income of the population. While in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern just under one quarter (24.3%), and in Sachsen-Anhalt a good fifth (21.5%) of the population have less than 60% of the median income in Germany at their disposal, this is true for just about one tenth in the southern Länder of Baden-Württemberg (10.0%) and Bayern (11.0%). This is shown by microcensus calculations for 2007, which were performed for the first time by the Federal Statistical Office and the statistical offices of the Länder as part of the project “social reporting in official statistics”.
According to those calculations, the at-risk-of-poverty rate was 14.3% for the whole of Germany in 2007. There are marked differences especially between East and West: While in the new Länder (including Berlin) 19.5% of the population were at risk of poverty, the rate in the former territory of the Federal Republic (excluding Berlin) was markedly lower (12.9%). In the eastern part of Germany, the at-risk-of-poverty rate was higher than in western Germany in nearly all age groups. Only the age group of those aged 65 years and over had a smaller rate in the East (9.3%) than in the West (11.9%). While the at-risk-of-poverty rate of female persons in the West (13.5%) was higher than for male persons (12.2%), no sex-specific differences were observed in the East (19.5% each for women and men).
For further information please call: Bonn Branch Office, Bettina Mertel, tel: (+49-611) 75-8705,
