Nearly 5,000 people below poverty line in 2016

According to Statistics Faroe Islands, 10.1% of the 2016 Faroese population were deemed to live below the poverty line. The poverty line is the minimum level of income considered adequate in a particular country.

The equivalised disposable income (see table below) of an unmarried person with no children in the Faroes was DKK 138,800 in 2016.

The first poverty line figures for the Faroes were published in 2009 when 8.8% of the population were deemed to live below the poverty line.

This figure has increased since 2010, although it decreased by 0.7% from 2014 to 2016.

In 2016, Iceland had the lowest poverty line figures in the Nordic region, at 9.6%, while Sweden had the highest, at 14.5%.

The poverty threshold in the Faroe Islands relative to household size 2016:

Poverty line figures are based on the equivalised disposable income of a household after tax and other deductions that is available for spending or saving, divided by the number of household members converted into ‘equalised’ adults. Household members are made equivalent by weighting each according to their age, using the modified OECD equivalence scale.

Translated by prosa.fo