Iceland Has Lowest Poverty Rate Among OECD Countries

Iceland has the lowest poverty rate among OECD’s 38 member countries, Morgunblaðið reports.

The poverty rate is defined by OECD as “the ratio of the number of people (in a given age group) whose income falls below the poverty line; taken as half the median household income of the total population.”

It is also available by broad age group: child poverty (0-17 years old), working-age poverty and elderly poverty (66 year-olds or more). OECD points out that two countries with the same poverty rates may differ in terms of the relative income-level of the poor.

As Morgunblaðið explains, the figures, therefore, refer to proportional poverty in each country. The data were the focus of attention yesterday on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

In Iceland, the poverty rate for all age groups combined is 4.9 percent, while the median poverty rate for OECD countries is 11.1 percent. The country with the highest poverty rate is Costa Rica, with 20.5 percent, whereas the second lowest poverty rate is in the Czech Republic, or 6.1 percent.

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