Poverty in Germany at highest level since reunification: Report

By Erbil Basay

BERLIN (AA) - Poverty levels in Germany have reached the highest point since German reunification in 1990, according to a new report on Wednesday.

Poverty rate reached 16.6% last year, up from 16.2% in 2020, said Ulrich Schneider, head of the German Parity Welfare Association.

Some 13.8 million Germans were classified as poor, with 300,000 more slipping into the category in 2021, he said, emphasizing that there has never been so much poverty in the country of around 84 million.

The poverty among children and adults also hit a record of 20.8%, according to Schneider.

Bremen has the highest rate of 28% among all German states, with Bavaria at the other end of the list at 12.6%.

There has been a constant increase in the poverty rate since 2006, he said, with the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically exacerbating the situation.

The crisis deepened as the cost of living soared from the autumn of 2021, Schneider said, adding that public funds and government initiatives have failed to solve the problem.