Rural women face a higher risk of poverty and social exclusion than comparison groups

Omissions

• The data used is from 2023, the most recent available before the session date of April 30, 2026. More recent 2024-2025 data may have been available but was not accessed due to search limitations.
• The difference between rural women (22.4%) and people in cities (21.6%) is relatively small (0.8 percentage points), though still higher for rural women.

Sources

• PrimaryEurostat - Urban-rural Europe: women and men living in rural areasThe risk of poverty or social exclusion was 22.4% for females in rural areas vs 20.3% for males in rural areas. The gender gap for people at risk of poverty or social exclusion in rural areas was -2.0 percentage points in 2023.
• PrimaryEurostat - Urban-rural Europe: income and living conditionsIn 2023, the EU's at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion rate was: cities 21.6%, rural areas 21.4%, towns and suburbs 19.0%.