Portugal has been surpassed by Latvia on a list led by Luxembourg and Denmark, countries with the highest incomes, according to an analysis released by the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation’s statistical database on the occasion of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, observed today.
“In 2023, each taxpayer in Portugal declared, on average, a gross monthly income of 1,155 euros, after tax deductions,” Pordata reported.
According to data from the IRS declarations of 2023, the Lisbon metropolitan area leads with the highest average monthly incomes (1,375 euros), while the Tâmega and Sousa region records the lowest (883 euros).
Oeiras is the municipality with the highest average income (1,637 euros).
The poverty risk rate in Portugal decreased from 17% to 16.6% between 2022 and 2023, equivalent to 1.8 million people living in households with a monthly income below 632 euros per adult.
Using data from the Survey on Income and Living Conditions, by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), Pordata notes that the elderly are the age group with the highest increase in poverty risk, rising from 17.1% in 2022 to 21.1% in 2023.
One in five elderly individuals either lives alone with a gross income below 632 euros or lives in a poor household.
Single-parent families with children continue to be “the most vulnerable,” emphasizes Pordata.
Following are individuals living alone, who experienced a nearly four percentage point increase in the poverty risk rate (from 24.9% in 2022 to 28.6% in 2023).
Among the unemployed, 44% live in households with incomes below the threshold, and “retirees saw an increase in the poverty risk rate from 15.4% in 2022 to 19.6% in 2023,” Pordata observes.
