About 551,000 people in the Netherlands were living in poverty in 2024, equivalent to 3.1% of the population, new figures from the CBS show. That was up from 2.7% a year earlier, marking the first increase after five consecutive years of decline.

The share of children living in poverty remained unchanged at 2.8%.

Many of those living in poverty are working, CBS chief economist Peter Hein van Mulligen told broadcaster NOS. In total, 48% of those living in poverty had some form of job last year and 29% lived on welfare benefits.

The CBS says the rise in poverty was mainly due to the discontinuation of the coronavirus-related energy allowance, which had reduced poverty levels in 2022 and 2023.

In 2023, the minimum wage was also increased sharply and rents were frozen for almost 600,000 low-income households.

Poverty in the Netherlands is defined as a situation in which a household, after paying for housing, energy and health insurance, does not have enough income and savings to cover basic needs such as food, clothing and participating in society.

The poverty threshold depends on household composition. In 2024, it was about €1,600 per month for a single adult and €2,145 for a couple. For a couple with two children under 13, the threshold was €2,625, rising to €3,000 for a couple with two teenage children.

In addition to those already living in poverty, around 1.1 million people were at risk of poverty in 2024, meaning their income was less than 25% above the poverty line.

About a quarter of people living in poverty or at risk of poverty are in households with debts such as tax arrears or unpaid fines, compared with 9% in the rest of the population. Most also lack the financial buffer to cover an unexpected expense of €1,500.