Young people in Cyprus are at the highest risk of experiencing severe material and social deprivation, state statistical service Cystat said on Tuesday.

Their figures showed that in 2022, a total of 4.4 per cent of people under the age of 18 living in Cyprus faced severe material and social deprivation.

This figure was higher than for those aged between 18 and 64, which was recorded at 2.7 per cent, while only 0.9 per cent of people aged 65 and over were living with severe material and social deprivation.

The proportion of people both under the age of 18 and 64 living with severe material and social deprivation increased between 2021 and 2022, by 0.2 per cent and 0.3 per cent.

Bucking the trend were people aged 65 and over, with a 0.2 per cent decrease of people living with severe material and social deprivation compared to 2021.

In terms of overall figures, 2.7 per cent of the population at large were living with severe material and social deprivation in 2022.

This figure is just over a third of the average among the 27 member states of the European Union, which stands at 6.7 per cent.

It represents a slight increase on the previous year’s figure of 2.6 per cent, though the increase is also smaller than the EU average, which was 6.3 per cent in 2021.