Eurostat data shows that the Azores are the Portuguese region with the highest risk of poverty or social exclusion, which affects 31.4% of the population. The same figures indicate that, even after people receive social benefits, this rate remains at 26.1%.
Madeira is the second Portuguese region with the worst scenario in this area, registering a rate of around 28%, which drops to 24.8% after social benefits. The best result is the Alentejo, with 16.4% (14.1% after social benefits).
Regarding severe material and social deprivation, the Azores are even further away from the rest of the country, with 12%, compared to 6.3% in Madeira, which is still the second highest figure. The best situation is again in the Alentejo, with 3%.
The Lisbon metropolitan area has 5.3% of the population suffering from severe material and social deprivation, the North 5.2%, the Center 3.8%, and the Algarve 3.6%.
Based on 2022 data, the average life expectancy in the Azores is also the lowest in the country, at 78 years, compared to 79.3 in Madeira, 82.5 in the North, 82 in the Center, 81.7 in the Lisbon region, and around 80 years in the Alentejo and Algarve.
Eurostat also examined the fertility rate, which is 1.34 children per woman in the Azores. The highest fertility rate in the country is in the Lisbon metropolitan area, at 1.6 children per woman.

For the time being, the Azores are still the youngest region in the country, with an average age of 42.7, compared to 49.3 in the Center.
The Eurostat figures also cover employment. The Azores have an unemployment rate of 6.5%, while the highest figure is in the Lisbon metropolitan area (7.2%). Madeira recorded 6% and the Center 5.3%, the country’s lowest rate.
In the Azores, employability is estimated at 73.5%, the second lowest figure after Madeira (72.9%).
The Azores also have the biggest difference in employability between men and women (10.3), while the lowest figure is in the Algarve (3.7%).
Young “neither/nor” (between 15 and 29 years old) who neither study nor work also have the highest percentage in the Azores, at 14.9%, compared to 10.5% in Madeira and the lowest figure in the Center, at 8.2%.
Eurostat also identifies the lowest percentage of adults in training (8.2%) and investment in Research and Development (0.41 of Gross Domestic Product-GDP) in the Azores.
Good news in the field of new technologies: The region has 93.6% of households with internet access, second only to the Lisbon region (94.6%).
Compared with other European regions in terms of the risk of poverty or social exclusion, Paris is 19.20%, Athens is 22.7%, and Stockholm is 15%.

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.