The 2017 Eurostat update on the risk of poverty and social exclusion show that immigrants continue to be at much greater risk to experience poverty than native-born citizens. Based on 2015 figures, 40.2 % of the non-EU-born population in the EU was assessed to be at risk of poverty compared to 21.7 % of the native-born population. Other trends are observed when comparing population groups.

Man vs. Women

Gender is not a significant factor, as nearly the same percentage of male (39.2 %) and female (39.8 %) citizens from a foreign country aged 20–64 were at risk of poverty in 2015. The gap between women and men with foreign citizenship was the largest in the Netherlands (with 31.1 % for female against 14.1 % for male). 

Children

Poverty does not spare those with a young age. At the EU level, the at-risk-of-poverty rate for children with at least one foreign parent (37.4 %) is also significantly higher than for children whose parents are both nationals (18.9 %). 

Eu vs Non-EU citizens

While foreign EU citizens living in another EU Member State have higher median incomes (€18.541) than the nationals (€17,131), the median incomes of non-EU citizens (€13.162) is considerably lower than both. Looking at individual EU countries, the greatest gaps between nationals and foreigners were found in Luxembourg, Sweden and Austria.

Overall, from a country perspective, the greatest gaps between nationals and non-EU citizens were generally observed in Sweden and Belgium (about 45 percentage points each). However, the highest severe material deprivation of non-EU citizens were observed in Greece (55.6 %) and Portugal (29.8 %).

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See 2016 trends