Romania is third in the European Union in the number of people at risk of poverty and social exclusion, with a rate of 27%.

Omissions

• The claim does not specify the reference year. The most recent data available before the session date (May 2026) is for 2025, published by Eurostat on 30 April 2026. That data shows Romania at 27.4%, not exactly 27% — though the difference of 0.4 percentage points is within standard rounding tolerance.
• In 2024, Romania ranked 2nd (27.9%), not 3rd, so the word 'still' is imprecise if comparing consecutive years. In 2025 Romania fell to 3rd place as Greece (27.5%) overtook it.
• The MEP says 'number of people' but provides a percentage (27%), which is the AROPE rate, not the absolute count. By absolute numbers, larger EU countries such as Germany, France, Italy, and Spain would have higher counts of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion even with lower rates.

Sources

• PrimaryEurostat Statistics Explained — Living conditions in EuropeBulgaria (29.0%), Greece (27.5%) and Romania (27.4%) reported the highest shares of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2025.
• PrimaryEurostat News — 20.9% of people at risk of poverty or social exclusionIn 2025, 92.7 million people in the EU (20.9% of the population) were at risk of poverty or social exclusion. The highest share was recorded in Bulgaria (29.0%), followed by Greece (27.5%) and Romania (27.4%).
• PrimaryEurostat News — People at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2024The highest values were reported in Bulgaria (30.3%), Romania (27.9%), Greece (26.9%), Spain and Lithuania (both 25.8%).