Almost a quarter of the population was officially classified as deprived in 2011, the highest level since the Central Statistics Office (CSO) began compiling such data in 2004.
The figures were revealed in the CSO Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC), a household survey covering a broad range of issues in relation to income and living conditions, which was published on Wednesday, 13th February.
The deprivation rate is the percentage of respondents who say that they have been unable to afford, based on their income, to purchase two or more commonplace goods or services in the recent past. The percentage of the population defined as deprived in 2011 stood at 24.5% compared to 22.6% in 2010 and less than 15% in 2004.
Of the 11 goods or services included in the deprivation index, the most common necessity, which could not be afforded, was furniture. Of total respondents, 22% said they had been unable to afford to replace worn-out furniture.
Single-parent households stood out as the most deprived in the survey, with 56% of families in this category classified as deprived.
The consistent poverty rate was 6.9% in 2011, not a statistically significant change on the 2010 figure of 6.3%.
In 2011 average annual equivalised disposable income was €21,440. This represented a decline of just over 3% on the 2010 value of €22,138.
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