The risk of poverty among people who are employed remains a persistent issue across the European Union, with new Eurostat figures showing that 8.2 per cent of workers aged 18 or over in the bloc were at risk of poverty in 2024.

According to Eurostat, the share of working individuals at risk of poverty was notably lower for women at 7.3 per cent, compared to 9.0 per cent for men.

In Cyprus, the rate stood at 7.3 per cent overall, slightly below the EU average.

However, the gender distribution in Cyprus diverged from the European pattern, with the rate higher among women (8.5 per cent) than among men (6.3 per cent).

This places Cyprus among the few EU countries where working women face a greater risk of poverty than their male counterparts, alongside Czechia, Latvia, and Luxembourg.

The highest rate of in-work poverty in the EU was recorded in Luxembourg, where 13.4 per cent of people in employment were at risk of poverty.

By contrast, the lowest rate was reported in Finland, at 2.8 per cent.

Eurostat reported that the in-work at-risk-of-poverty rate was higher for men than for women in 22 EU member states, underscoring a broad gender gap in most of the bloc.

The largest gender difference was recorded in Romania, with a gap of 8.1 percentage points.

In Germany, the rate was the same for both sexes, at 6.5 per cent each.

The data is drawn from Eurostat’s 2025 publication titled ‘Key Figures on European Living Conditions‘.

The report offers a comprehensive overview of how Europeans live today, covering topics such as income distribution, inequality, household composition, work intensity, childcare, health, disability, and discrimination.

The findings highlight that poverty risk does not only affect those without employment or in low work intensity households.

According to Eurostat, a considerable portion of Europe’s working population (both employed and self-employed) remains vulnerable to financial hardship, even while participating fully in the labour market.

In this context, the figures underline the structural challenges facing Cyprus’ labour market, where women continue to experience higher in-work poverty risks despite high employment levels and rising wages.