Istat, absolute poverty stable in Italy: it will affect 5.4 million people in 2025

Absolute poverty: Istat data

According to Istat, the incidence of absolute poverty among families went from 8.4% in 2024 to 8% in 2025, while that among individuals fell from 9.8% to 9.3%. At a territorial level, Istat underlines, "the stability of the phenomenon compared to 2024 also confirms the highest incidence in the South", with 813 thousand families in absolute poverty (9.6% of residents in the distribution). Followed by the North-West (568 thousand families, 7.7%) and the North-East (386 thousand families, 7.4%). The Center shows, also in 2025, the lowest values ​​(338 thousand families, 6.3%). Among the absolutely poor families, 38.6% reside in the South (39.8% in 2024), 45.3% in the North (44.5% in 2024) and the remaining 16.1% in the Center (15.7% in 2024). Even among individuals, the highest values ​​of the incidence of absolute poverty (over 11%) are observed in the South and in the Islands. Followed by the North-West (8.8%) and the Center (7.4%).

The incidence decreases with increasing age

The incidence of absolute poverty decreases as age increases. According to Istat data, it goes from 12.5% ​​among minors (for a total of 1 million 136 thousand), to 12.1% among young people aged 18-34 (almost 1 million 198 thousand), to 8.9% for 35-64 year olds and to 6.1% among over 65s (over 891 thousand). Even the intensity of absolute poverty, which measures in percentage terms how much the monthly expenditure of poor families is on average below the poverty line, remains stable at national level (18.5%), in the North (18.2%, with values ​​equal to 18.5% in the North-West and 17.8% in the North-East) and in the Center (18.2%). In the South, however, there is a slight increase: estimates rise to 19.0%, from 18.5% in 2024.

Large families and education level

As reported in the report, the incidence of the phenomenon is confirmed to be higher among large families: it reaches 19.2% among those with five or more members and 10.5% among those with four, while it drops to 8.4%, still a higher than average value, among families with three members. Even among single-parent families the incidence exceeds the average: more than one in ten (11.5%) is in conditions of absolute poverty. Furthermore, the incidence of absolute poverty decreases as the educational qualification of the reference person increases: if the latter has obtained at least a high school diploma, the incidence is equal to 4.4%; it is more than twice as high (11.9%) if the reference person has at most a middle school diploma and increases further, reaching 12.3%, for families in which the reference person has obtained a primary school diploma at most.