Almost 1.7 million people, 30.7% of the Valencian population, were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2025. That is roughly 100,000 more than a year earlier and five percentage points above Spain’s average, according to EAPN’s sixteenth State of Poverty report released on Thursday.
The deterioration is concentrated in monetary poverty, which reaches 26% of the population. Severe material and social deprivation improved to 6.9%, while very low work intensity fell to 7.9%. The AROPE measure combines all three dimensions and is therefore not simply a count of people without jobs or income.
Market rent creates the widest divide
Among people renting at market prices, 55.9% are at risk of poverty or exclusion, compared with the overall 30.7% rate. Since 2015, purchase prices have risen 67.4%, while prices on new rental contracts increased 48.9% by 2024. The share of tenants has doubled since 2008, from 10.5% to 21%.
Exposure is also above average among children, at 39.3%; households with dependent children, at 35%; unemployed people, at 61.1%; and people with disabilities, at 36.4%. The rate for women is 31.9%.
Average Valencian income is €1,603 below Spain’s
Average income per person is €14,017 a year, against €15,620 nationally. The report also places the Valencian Community first for inequality on the S80/S20 measure: the richest fifth receives 5.8 times the income of the poorest fifth.
Public transfers contain a substantial part of the problem. Without benefits and assistance, the Valencian poverty rate would rise from 26% to 46.6%; retaining only retirement and survivors’ pensions would leave it at 31.8%. EAPN nevertheless estimates that about 59% of people potentially entitled to Spain’s Minimum Living Income do not receive it.
The figures derive from the Living Conditions Survey and mainly describe 2024 income and conditions recorded in 2025; they are not a real-time reading for October. The next reference point will be the annual survey and changes in housing costs, employment and effective coverage of the national and Valencian minimum-income schemes.