April 24 (SeeNews) - The rate of severely materially deprived people in Bulgaria was the highest among all EU-member states in 2017, Eurostat said on Tuesday.
The severe material deprivation rate in Bulgaria stood at 30%, the bloc's statistical office said in a statement.
Greece followed with 21.1% rate of material deprivation and Romania was third with 19.4%. Croatia's rate of material deprivation stood at 10.3% in 2017.
To fall into the severe material deprivation category a person should not be able to afford at least four of the following items - pay bills on time, keep home adequately warm, face unexpected expenses, eat meat regularly, take a one week holiday away from home, TV, a washing machine, a car and a telephone.
Slovenia was the only Southeast European country with a material deprivation rate lower than the EU average, which is 6.7%. The country's severe material deprivation rate was 4.5% in 2017.