Almost 900,000 people were living in a household with an income under the poverty line last year, and almost 25% of them were children, national statistics agency CBS said on Friday.

The figures do show a slight drop in the number of children living in poverty, with 6.6% classified as poor in 2021, compared with 6.8% in the previous year, the CBS said.

The poverty line last year was €1,130 for a single person and €2,170 for a family with two children.

People in paid jobs accounted for 142,000 of those below the poverty line and freelancers were more likely to be classified as poor, the CBS said.

The agency expects the figures to worsen this year. In 2021, for example, almost one in four people with a very low income expected to be able to save a little money, compared with one in five this year.

Some 370,000 people had lived below the bread line for at least four years – or some 2.3% of the population.