The Czech Republic is often presented as the country with the lowest level of poverty in the European Union.

According to data from Eurostat, around 11.5 percent of people were at risk of poverty or social exclusion last year, compared to an EU average of 20.9 percent.

This places the country ahead of neighbors such as Germany, Austria and Poland. In Germany, the share stood at 21.2 percent, while Austria reported 18.8 percent and Poland 15 percent. Slovakia recorded 16.7 percent.

At first glance, the figures suggest a strong position. The Czech Republic has ranked near the top of this indicator for years, reinforcing the image of a country with relatively low inequality.

Yet economists and social analysts say the data does not fully capture how people actually live.

The Eurostat indicator defines poverty as earning less than 60 percent of the national median income. In practical terms, that threshold was about 19,090 crowns per month for an individual in the Czech Republic last year, and 24,817 crowns for a single parent with a young child.

The measure also considers whether households can afford basic needs such as heating, holidays or unexpected expenses.

But critics argue the method focuses too narrowly on income differences within each country, without reflecting real purchasing power.

“The indicator shows how many people earn less than others in the same country, but it does not say what those incomes can actually buy,” said Eliška Halaštová, an analyst at Caritas Czech Republic. She points to rising costs for housing, food and services, which are not directly included in the comparison.

Because of that, she says the Czech Republic cannot simply be described as the least poor country in the EU.

A separate analysis by PAQ Research reached a similar conclusion. Researchers Daniel Prokop and Michael Škvrňák argue that the methodology overlooks factors that significantly affect household finances in the Czech Republic, including wage deductions linked to debt enforcement.

They also highlight a broader issue. Income levels differ widely across Europe, yet the same formula is applied everywhere. As a result, the poverty line in wealthier countries is much higher.

In countries such as Luxembourg, Austria and Ireland, median incomes — and therefore poverty thresholds — are roughly 1.9 times higher than in the Czech Republic. Compared with Bulgaria, they are about three times higher.

This leads to a paradox. A person considered poor in Austria or Luxembourg may still have a higher income and better living conditions than an average household in the Czech Republic.

When Czech incomes are measured against a European-wide standard, the picture changes sharply. According to the PAQ Research analysis, more than two-fifths of Czech households would fall below the European poverty line. In Germany, the figure is just under 11 percent, and in Austria 6.4 percent.

Even in absolute terms, the situation is less reassuring than the headline percentage suggests. Around 1.21 million people in the Czech Republic are classified as poor or socially excluded, and that number has been rising in recent years.

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