A new study by the PAQ Research agency finds that poverty in Czechia is significantly worse than previously indicated by EU statistics (Eurostat), with seniors, single parents, and renters most at risk. The findings, published by Czech media outlet iDnes, challenge the Eurostat ranking often cited by Czech politicians.
Eurostat’s 2024 data had ranked the Czech Republic among the countries with the lowest poverty rates in the EU. However, economists argue that Eurostat’s comparison is misleading, as it measures income inequality within countries rather than actual poverty levels.
“If we want to compare living standards across countries, we have to set the income threshold at the level of the whole of Europe, taking into account price differences. After conversion, about a fifth of Czechs are poor,” said PAQ study author Michal Škvrňák.
Eu countries with highest poverty risk (percent)
According to PAQ, “About 21 percent of Czechs suffer from relative income poverty comparable to Europe.” That places the country below the EU average and behind Austria, Germany, Italy, and Slovenia, though ahead of Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania, and Croatia.
The study also highlighted specific vulnerable groups. Compared with EU averages, the Czech Republic has more poor seniors living alone, 62 percent versus 28 percent.
Poverty affects 43 percent of single-parent households, 16 percentage points above the EU average. More than 30 percent of Czech renters are below the poverty line, compared with 20 percent across Europe.
Researchers link this to higher housing costs, rising expenses for childcare, and limited financial buffers in many single-income households.
Škvrňák noted that the PAQ model accounts for “life satisfaction or so-called material deprivation. This is a situation where a household cannot afford items necessary for life, such as clothing, suitable shoes, or heating.” According to the study, these measures better capture poverty across the EU and show that Czech households are worse off than Eurostat data implies.
Cyrrus chief economist Vít Hradil called Eurostat’s results distorted. “To say that people in rich Luxembourg are more at risk of poverty than in the Czech Republic is simply bizarre. Being poor there and being poor here is not the same; everyone can afford something different,” he told iDnes.