36.2% of the population is at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the Canary Islands. This figure is 1.6 points lower than a year ago and represents the lowest level since the AROPE (At Risk Of Poverty and/or Exclusion) indicator began to be published in 2014, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics.
Despite this decrease, the Canary Islands continues to be at the head of Spain in poverty rates, with an AROPE rate that exceeds the average by 11 points (26.0%) and above which only one region is found, Extremadura, where 36.9% suffer from the risk of social exclusion.
The islands also remain the community with the highest proportion of inhabitants subjected to severe material and social deprivation, 11.9%, an indicator that has also improved significantly compared to 2021, when it stood at 15.7%.
The INE has published the AROPE indicator (English acronym for "At risk of poverty and exclusion") since 2014. Its evolution in the Canary Islands has been as follows: 41.8% in 2014, 38.4% in 2015, 47.0% in 2016, 39.9% in 2017, 39.2% in 2018, 38.3% in 2019, 39.1 in 2020, 37.8% in 2021 and 36.2% in 2022.
In turn, the indicator of population with severe material and social deprivation has since had this behavior in the islands: 21.5% in 2014, 15.7% in 2015, 16.8% in 2016, 12.2% in 2017, 15.6% in 2018, 6.6% in 2019, 18.0% in 2020, 15.7% in 2021 and 11.9% in 2022.
The AROPE indicators for each year are prepared with the income of the previous year. In this case, with the income of 2021, which in the Canary Islands was an average of 10,716 euros per person, 18% below the national average (13,008).
Below the Canary Islands in average income per person in 2021 are three autonomous communities: Extremadura, with 10,133; Murcia, with 10,632; and Andalusia, with 10,703.
According to the INE, 40.2% of Canarians cannot afford a vacation away from home per year (the fourth highest rate in Spain), 57.2% do not have the capacity to face unforeseen expenses (the highest rate in the country), 20.0% are delayed in paying for housing or installment purchases (the second highest) and 13.4% have great difficulty making ends meet (the highest).
In the last year, the improvement in employment in the Canary Islands is reflected in one of the indicators that make up the AROPE rate: the percentage of households with low work intensity (those whose members of working age worked less than 20% of their total work potential during the year).
In that indicator, the Canary Islands has dropped from 21.1% of households that were in that situation in 2021 to 14.5% who suffered from it in 2022, the minimum level for the islands since the series began to be published.
The islands are the community that has improved the most in this indicator in the last year, but it continues to lead it, with one that exceeds the national average by six points (8.6%).
