The latest Eurostat report shows that in 2024, 17.4% of EU citizens considered themselves “subjectively poor”, while in Serbia, that figure stood at 34%. Although one-third of the population still feels financially vulnerable, Serbia has nearly halved its subjective poverty rate over the past decade — from 64.6% in 2014 to 34% in 2024 — ranking among the strongest improvements in Europe, according to an analysis by Ivan Nikolić, research associate at the Economics Institute in Belgrade, published in Macroeconomic Analyses and Trends (MAT).
Subjective poverty measures how individuals perceive their financial and material situation, based on surveys and statistical data on income and living standards across EU, EFTA, and EU candidate countries. Unlike traditional poverty indicators such as the risk of poverty rate or material deprivation index, subjective poverty reflects a person’s self-assessment of difficulty in making ends meet.
Among European countries, Greece recorded the highest share of people who consider themselves poor — 66%, while Germany and the Netherlands reported the lowest, at 7.3% each. The EU average was 17.4%, and the eurozone average 17.6%. Serbia ranked 30th out of 35 countries, ahead of Bulgaria, which, along with Greece, had a higher rate of subjective poverty.
Nikolić notes that Serbia’s improvement of 30.6 percentage points over ten years places it alongside Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, and Bulgaria as one of the best performers in Europe. The trend mirrors Bulgaria’s long-term progress, which is expected given the two countries’ comparable income growth.
In 2024, subjective poverty in the EU was highest among those under 18 (20%), compared with 17.3% among people aged 18–64 and 14.9% among those over 65. In Serbia, however, the pattern was reversed — the lowest rate, 31.5%, was recorded among children, while the highest, 38.7%, was among seniors. Among the working-age population, exactly one-third considered themselves poor.
Nikolić attributes the sharp decline in subjective poverty to strong growth in disposable income, with wages and pensions rising faster than inflation, lower unemployment, and generous state aid during the pandemic. Continuous economic growth, record foreign direct investment, and job creation also contributed to the improved perception of living standards.
While acknowledging the significant progress, the analysis concludes that the 34% subjective poverty rate still shows that one-third of Serbians view their financial situation as difficult, highlighting the need for continued responsible and coordinated economic policy to further raise living standards.
