Severe material deficiency has increased in Spain to exceed the maximum reached in 2014. Thus, one in every 12 people in Spain (8.1%) would suffer from severe material deficiency in 2022, more than double that before the financial crisis (in 2007 it was 3.5%) and even one point above the figure 2014 (7.1%), according to INE data analyzed by Focus on Spanish Society, a publication edited by Funcas.

The rate of severe material deprivation determines the percentage of the population that lacks at least four items from a list of nine goods and activities whose access is considered essential for individual well-being today.. This is an indicator of serious vulnerability, the analysis of which becomes important in a context of successive crises and sharp increases in inflation..

If between 2014 and 2019 this indicator fell from 7.1% to 4.7%, in 2020 it already rose to 7% and, despite the growth of GDP and employment, severe material deficiency has continued to increase until 2022, reaching above pre-pandemic levels.

One of the concepts included in the material deficiency indicator is the ability to maintain the home at an adequate temperature.. In this aspect, there are notable differences between the 27 countries of the European Union, according to Eurostat data.. With 17.1% of its population stating that they cannot maintain an adequate temperature at home, Spain is above the European average (9.3%)..

In countries like Austria, Sweden and Finland the proportion of people affected by this problem is less than 3%.. However, this indicator worsened between 2021 and 2022 in almost all European countries and while in Spain it increased by three percentage points, the most significant increases were observed in Romania, France and Ireland..

According to Funcas, the sharp rise in food prices since 2021, aggravated by the war in Ukraine, may also have affected the most vulnerable households.. However, in this dimension of material deficiency, Spain records more positive data. In 2022, 5.4% of the population stated that they could not afford meat, chicken or fish at least every two days, a proportion higher than that of 2021 (4.7%), but lower than those observed not only in many countries of Eastern Europe, but also in Germany (11.4%), Greece (10%), France (9.5%) and Italy (7.5%).

Differences between the CCAA

In the case of Spain, considerable differences can be seen between the autonomous communities. While around a fifth of the population of Extremadura (23%), Andalusia (21%) and Murcia (20%) declared in 2022 that they would not be able to keep their home at an adequate temperature, these figures were below 10%. in Castilla y León, Basque Country, Navarra, La Rioja and Aragon.

These latter regions are also the ones that fare best by focusing on people who can afford a meal with meat, chicken or fish every two days. The differences in this item are even more pronounced than in the ability to keep the home at an adequate temperature.. Thus, the highest rate (Canary Islands: 11.9%) is six times higher than the lowest (Aragón: 1.9%). In both indicators, the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla present the worst results.