According to the report data, which is being publicly presented today and includes some preliminary data from the 2023 Survey on Income and Living Conditions (ICOR) by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the poverty risk rate increased by 0.6 percentage points between 2022 and 2023, rising from 16.4% to 17%.

"The number of people at risk of poverty has increased by 60,000", reads the report, authored by researchers Susana Peralta, Bruno P. Carvalho and Miguel Fonseca from Nova School of Business & Economics.

This increase means that in 2023, the number of people living at risk of poverty exceeded 1.77 million.

According to the analysis, "the poverty rate has increased mainly among women, with an increase of 0.9 percentage points in 2023".

It also states that "the increase in the prevalence of poverty is reflected in all age groups, especially among children, whose poverty rate increased by 2.2 percentage points compared to 2022".

The report data shows that "the prevalence of poverty is higher in the autonomous regions", where there is also more material and social deprivation and inequality in income distribution.

"The poverty rate is almost 10 percentage points above the national average in Madeira, the region with the highest poverty rate in Portugal, and nine percentage points above the national average in the Azores", reads the report.

It adds that the severe material and social deprivation rate fell in all regions of the country between 2021 and 2022, with the exception of the Azores.

On the other hand, it notes that income inequalities have increased, pointing out that last year "the richest 25% held about 47% of the country's wealth, compared to the poorest 25%, who held only 10.8%".

With reference to 2022, the report states that the poverty line was 551 euros per month and that poverty was more common among unemployed people (41.3%), single-parent families (29.9%) and people with lower levels of education (21.9%).

There is also gender inequality in poverty, with "women having a higher risk of poverty than men (16.8% vs 15.9%)".

It states that the poverty risk rate among people working on temporary contracts "is almost triple" (20.6%) that recorded among those working on permanent contracts (7.4%).

On the other hand, four out of ten unemployed people are poor, a reality that affects one in ten employed people.

"The risk of poverty is also higher for foreigners (28.5%) compared to locals (16.1%)", points out the Social Report.

It also highlights that poor people have "significant housing shortages" and that, in 2022, 20.5% of poor families lived in overcrowded houses, compared to 7.2% of the non-poor population, while "excessive housing costs" mainly affect families at risk of poverty.

"About 33.9% of poor households in Portugal have housing costs that exceed 40% of the household income (compared to 6.6% of the non-poor population)", reads the report.

The report also analyses mental health and well-being, showing that most people at risk of poverty (almost 60%) do little physical exercise, eat little fruit or vegetables, and have less healthy habits, such as smoking (high tobacco consumption is more significant among the poor population) or drinking alcoholic beverages.

Poor people have less life satisfaction than non-poor people, and 16% say they rarely feel happy.

In their daily lives, poor people face difficulties with vision (29%), walking (15%) and concentration (24%).

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