Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median in Spain
Spain: Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median was 9.8% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median in Spain, 1980–2023
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median in Spain is 9.8%, measured in 2023.
That represents a change of up 7.0% on the previous year and down 18.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median in Spain peaked at 12.0% in 2014 and was at its lowest, 6.1%, in 1990.
That places Spain 27th out of 120 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 32 years of available data.
Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median in Spain, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 7.6% | — |
| 1985 | 7.0% | -7.9% |
| 1990 | 6.1% | -12.9% |
| 1993 | 8.4% | +37.7% |
| 1994 | 8.6% | +2.4% |
| 1995 | 9.0% | +4.7% |
| 1996 | 10.1% | +12.2% |
| 1997 | 9.3% | -7.9% |
| 1998 | 9.5% | +2.2% |
| 1999 | 7.3% | -23.2% |
| 2000 | 7.6% | +4.1% |
| 2003 | 7.6% | -0.5% |
| 2004 | 7.7% | +1.9% |
| 2005 | 8.2% | +5.9% |
| 2006 | 8.6% | +5.6% |
| 2007 | 8.6% | -0.5% |
| 2008 | 9.0% | +4.8% |
| 2009 | 9.7% | +7.7% |
| 2010 | 9.4% | -2.9% |
| 2011 | 10.5% | +11.9% |
| 2012 | 10.4% | -1.5% |
| 2013 | 12.0% | +16.0% |
| 2014 | 12.0% | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 11.7% | -2.4% |
| 2016 | 11.6% | -1.0% |
| 2017 | 10.2% | -12.4% |
| 2018 | 10.1% | -1.1% |
| 2019 | 10.6% | +4.8% |
| 2020 | 10.9% | +3.5% |
| 2021 | 10.0% | -8.1% |
| 2022 | 9.1% | -8.9% |
| 2023 | 9.8% | +7.0% |
Spain compared with similar countries
- Spain's 9.8% is above the median for high income countries, which is 6.5%, 1.5× the median. (42 countries reporting)
- Spain's 9.8% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 5.6%, 1.7× the median. (47 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median in Spain changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | +37.7% | 6.1% | 8.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 7.3% | 7.0% | 7.6% | 2 |
| 1990s | 8.5% | 6.1% | 10.1% | 8 |
| 2000s | 8.4% | 7.6% | 9.7% | 8 |
| 2010s | 10.9% | 9.4% | 12.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 10.0% | 9.1% | 10.9% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Spain
More poverty & inequality data for Spain
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 8 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 1.21 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 3,786 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate 72.8 % change on previous year (2024)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 36.42 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 36.4% (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median in Spain?
- Relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median in Spain was 9.8% in 2023, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median recorded in Spain?
- The highest recorded value was 12.0% in 2014.
- What is the lowest relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median recorded in Spain?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.1% in 1990.
- How does Spain rank for relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median?
- Spain ranks 27th out of 120 countries with data for 2023.
- Is relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median rising or falling in Spain?
- Over the last ten years it is down 18.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Spain data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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About this data
Percentage of population living in households with an income or consumption below 40% of the median.