Almost one in five people still at risk of poverty despite a slight decrease

The latest results of the survey on household income and living conditions conducted in 2024, relating to household income in 2023, reveal that resident households experienced slightly fewer economic and financial difficulties. Nevertheless, with a poverty risk rate of 18.1% in 2024 (compared to 18.8% in 2023), almost a fifth of Luxembourg's resident population remains at risk of poverty. Among the populations particularly exposed to the risk of poverty are still children under the age of 18.

One in four children at risk of poverty

In Luxembourg, the average standard of living in 2024 was €4,867 per month and per person in the household[1]. Among the resident population of the Grand Duchy, around one in four children remain at risk of poverty. These children live in households with a standard of living of less than €2,540 per month and per person. Between 2023 and 2024, this indicator increased slightly by 0.2 percentage points to 24.1%, which is a particularly high level for Luxembourg. By comparison, the risk of poverty is 9.4% for people aged 65 or over.

Graph 1: at-risk-of-poverty rate (%), total population and by age, 2023-2024

Source: STATEC, LU-SILC survey on household income and living conditions.

The average standard of living of the 20% of the most affluent people is 4.7 times higher than that of the 20% least affluent.

However, this indicator has declined slightly, by 0.1 percentage point compared to 2023, but it continues to highlight an unequal distribution of income among individuals in Luxembourg. The Gini coefficient, which is another indicator used to measure the level of inequality within an income distribution, also decreased slightly, from 30.6% in 2023 to 30.1% in 2024.

Table 1: S80/S20 inter-quintile ratio and Gini coefficient (%), 2023-2024

Source: STATEC, LU-SILC survey on household income and living conditions.

*Note: the inter-quintile ratio corresponds to the ratio between the average standard of living of the 20% of the most affluent individuals and that of the 20% least affluent.

[1]   The standard of living of a household is obtained by dividing its disposable income after taxes and social security contributions by its “size” calculated in “adult equivalents” (according to the modified OECD scale). This adjustment makes it possible to compare the living standards of households of different sizes and compositions.