Risk of poverty

12. Sep 2023
Poverty risk unchanged – 7,7%

The at-risk-of-poverty rate is an international measurement that counts the portion of the population with the lowest relative spending potential. These statistics are based on equivalent income, also known as ‘equivalised disposable income’, which is an income figure adjusted for different household compositions. Read more about equivalent income here. The poverty risk rate indicates the proportion of people with an equivalent income below 60% of the national median equivalent income.

Unchanged poverty risk

The poverty risk rate fell from 9.9% in 2018 to 7.7% in 2019, dipped to 7.6% in 2020 and rose back to 7.7% in 2021. The rate averaged at about 10% in the 2012-2018 period.

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Fewer elderly at risk of poverty

The 2.2% drop in the poverty risk rate from 2018 to 2019 was mainly due to a significant portion of the 67+ age group moving above the at-risk-of-poverty threshold. Most of these remained above the threshold in 2021. A majority of the 67+ group who moved above the threshold in 2019 lived in larger households. More than half of 67+ group living alone were below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold. This proportion has remained stable in recent years.

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Higher poverty risk in Sandoy and Suðuroy

The southern part of the Faroe Islands (Sandoy and Suðuroy) has a relatively higher poverty risk rate than the rest of the country. In 2021, the rate was 13.2% in the Sandoy region and 11.5% in Suðuroy. At the other end of this spectrum are Eysturoy and Suðurstreymoy, with 6.7% and 6.8%, respectively.

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More detailed figures broken down into age, sex, household composition and regions are available in the statbank, with data updated up to and including 2021. See more graphs, etc. on the risk of poverty theme page.