The data published on Tuesday from the survey "Living in Europe" (EU-SILC)-2013 showed that some 16.2 million people, or 20.3 percent of the German population, was a victim of poverty in 2013.

The figures were at a similar level to that of the previous year (19.6 percent) and have remained reasonably constant since 2008 (20.1 percent). However, with 21.9 percent, the stats showed that women were affected by poverty more than men (18.8 percent).

According to statisticians, the proportion of poor or socially excluded people across the European Union (EU) was considerably higher than in Germany at 24.5 percent.

The result for Germany in 2013 was calculated using the percentages of the population at risk of poverty (16.1 percent), those affected by significant material deprivation (5.4 percent) and the population living in households with a very low labor participation rate (9.9 per cent). A person meeting one or more of the three criteria was only counted as one person.

Across the EU, 16.7 percent of the population was at risk of poverty, 9.6 percent significantly material disadvantaged and 10.7 percent were living in households with very low labor market participation.

ksb/es (dpa, epd, KNA)