MADRID, 29 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The average income per person reached 12,269 euros in 2020, a figure 0.2% lower than that of 2019 and which represents the first decrease in this indicator since 2013, according to the Living Conditions Survey (ECV) for the year 2021 published this Wednesday by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
Thus, after six consecutive years of increases, the average income per person stood in 2020, the year in which the Covid pandemic was declared, 23 euros below those of 2019 (12,292 euros).
Taking into account the income of 2020, the percentage of the population with income below the poverty risk threshold reached 21.7% of the resident population in Spain in 2021, seven tenths above the figure of the previous year.
The highest average annual income in 2020 was in the Basque Country (15,544 euros per person), Navarra (15,269) and Madrid (14,836), while the lowest corresponded to Extremadura (9,500 euros per person), Murcia (9,931) and Andalusia (9,915).
With data already corresponding to 2021, the INE indicates that 33.4% of Spanish households did not have the capacity to face unforeseen expenses last year, compared to 35.4% in 2020.
The agency considers that households have the capacity to meet unforeseen expenses when they have their own resources to do so, that is, without resorting to loans or installment purchases to pay regular expenses that were previously settled in cash.
The survey also reveals that 8.8% of households reached the end of the month with “great difficulty” in 2021, a percentage that fell 1.2 points compared to 2020.
The INE also points out that the number of households that have not been able to afford to go on vacation for at least one week a year stood at 32.7% in 2021, compared to 34.4% in 2020.
According to the statistical agency, 14.4% of households admit that they are late in payments when it comes to paying expenses related to the main home or in installment purchases in the 12 months prior to the survey. This percentage has worsened almost one point compared to 2020.
The percentage of households that cannot afford to keep their homes at an adequate temperature has also worsened, going from 10.9% in 2020 to 14.3% in 2021.
Canarias (15.2%), Andalucía (12.5%), Murcia (11.8%) were the autonomous communities with the highest percentages of households that reached the end of the month with “great difficulty” in 2021. In contrast, the lower percentages are presented by La Rioja (3.1%), the Basque Country (4.6%) and the Balearic Islands (5.4%).
Likewise, households in the Canary Islands (49.8%), Murcia (43%) and Andalusia (42.4%) are the ones with the least capacity in 2021 when it comes to meeting unforeseen expenses. On the opposite side are the Basque Country (18.4%) and Navarra (20.9%).
For their part, Andalusia (45.7%), Murcia (44.4%) and Extremadura (41.6%) recorded the highest percentages of households that could not afford to go on holiday away from home for at least one week a year in 2021. The lowest percentages were in the Basque Country (16.4%), Madrid (21.4%) and La Rioja (22.4%).
In the case of households with delays in payments related to the main home or in installment purchases, the Canary Islands (26.2%), Murcia (21.3%) and the Balearic Islands (20.3%) presented the highest percentages. On the contrary, La Rioja (8%) and País Vasco (8.8%) registered the lowest.
