Ljubljana, 14 June (STA) - The at-risk-of-poverty rate in Slovenia decreased by 0.6 percentage points to 13.3% in 2017, show data released by the Statistics Office on Thursday. The average annual net disposable household income increased by EUR 701 over the previous year to EUR 22,256 and the Gini coefficient decreased by 0.7 points to 23.7.
In 2017, about 268,000 people in Slovenia were living below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold, which is 12,000 fewer than in the previous year.
Among those below the threshold, 78,000 were retired (15.9% of all retired persons), 54,000 of them women and 23,000 men.
About 56,000 were persons in employment (6.6% of all persons in employment), 32,000 of them were employed and 24,000 self-employed, 51,000 were unemployed (41.8% of all unemployed persons), and 49,000 were underage children (12.8% of all children).
The annual at-risk-of-poverty threshold for a one-member household was set EUR 232 higher compared to 2016, at EUR 7,628 or EUR 636 per month.
The threshold for a four-member family with two adults and two children younger than 14 was set at EUR 1,335 per month and for a two-member household without children at EUR 954 per month.
The average annual disposable income per household member increased by EUR 258 to EUR 8,990 and the average equivalised disposable income per household member calculated with the OECD modified equivalence scale increased by EUR 392 to EUR 13,585.
The NW statistical region of Podravska, whose biggest city is Maribor, and the western Posavska region around Krško, stood out with at-risk-poverty rates of 16.4% and 18.5% respectively.
The rate in the Osrednjeslovenska region around Ljubljana was 11.5%, while it was the lowest in the southern Primorsko-notranjska region around Postojna, at 8.4%.
Social transfers were shown to still have a significant impact in decreasing the at-risk-of-poverty rate. Without them - pensions excluded - the rate would have amounted to 24.0%.
Also down in 2017, by 1.3 points to 17.1%, was at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion rate.
A decrease was recorded in all three social exclusion indicators: the at-risk-of-poverty rate by 0.6 percentage points, the severe material deprivation rate by 0.8 points and the very low work intensity rate by 1.2 points.