Isilda Gomes· S&D

Nuanced

Almost one in four people in the European Union live with some type of disability.

Omissions

• The statistic specifically refers to people aged 16 years or over (adults), not the total population including children
• Different methodologies yield different figures: 23.9% (2022) for 'long-standing limitations' vs 26.8% (2023) for 'activity limitation'
• The Council of the EU figure of 90 million people represents approximately 24% of adults, not the entire EU population
• The Council of the EU infographic cited was published after the speech date (2024 data), though 2022 Eurostat data already supported similar figures

Sources

• PrimaryCouncil of the European Union - Disability in the EU: facts and figuresIn 2024, 24% of the EU population over the age of 16 had some form of disability, equaling 90 million people or one in four adults
• PrimaryEurostat - Population with disability Statistics ExplainedIn 2024, disability ranged from 12.7% in Bulgaria to 41.2% in Finland across EU countries
• PrimaryEurostat Facebook - Disability statistics 202326.8% of people aged 16 years and over in the EU had a disability (activity limitation) in 2023
• PrimaryEurostat - Disability statistics PDFIn the EU, 23.9% of people aged 16 years or over reported some or severe long-standing limitations in their usual activities due to health problems