Cyprus has emerged as a leader in protecting young people from severe material and social deprivation, according to newly released figures from Eurostat for 2025.

The island recorded a rate of just two per cent for this demographic, placing it among the top ten best-performing nations within the European Union.

This performance stands in contrast to the broader continental picture, where the rate for young people aged 15 to 29 years stood at 5.8 per cent, maintaining the same share recorded in 2024.

Across the union, this figure for the youth remains slightly lower than the rate observed for the total population, which sat at 6.3 per cent.

While the situation in Cyprus remains stable, other member states face significant challenges in ensuring the wellbeing of their younger citizens.

The highest shares of young people facing severe material and social deprivation were reported in Romania at 15.1 per cent, Greece at 14.7 per cent, and Bulgaria at 14.0 per cent.

Conversely, ten nations successfully kept this rate below 3.0 per cent, including Croatia, Slovenia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Austria, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Portugal.

Despite this relative success in preventing material hardship, young people across Europe continue to confront a higher risk of poverty or social exclusion compared to the general population.

In 2025, the overall at risk of poverty or social exclusion rate for those aged 15 to 29 years hit 24.2 per cent across the European Union.

This figure was 3.3 percentage points higher than the rate for the total population, which stood at 20.9 per cent.

When analysing specific components of this risk, young people faced an at risk of poverty rate 3.3 percentage points higher than the general population, recorded at 19.6 per cent compared to 16.3 per cent.

However, the disparity was less pronounced regarding the share of individuals living in households with very low work intensity.

In this category, the rate for young people was only 0.3 percentage points higher, at 8.2 per cent, compared to 7.9 per cent for the total population.