The income reference period of SILC in year T is the calendar year T-1, i.e. for SILC 2025 the income relates to Jan-Dec 2024.
People ‘severely limited’ in usual activities due to a health problem were more than three times as likely to be unable to afford to keep their home adequately warm in 2025, 11.5% compared with 3.2% of those ‘not limited’.
Over four in ten (42.2%) households with a ‘severely limited’ household member considered housing costs a heavy financial burden, compared with 20.9% of households where no member was limited.
Among people who reported ‘bad or very bad’ general health in 2025, 7.7% reported feeling ‘lonely’ all the time, compared with 0.2% of those who reported having ‘very good’ health.
Almost a quarter (24.6%) of those with a chronic illness reported feeling ‘downhearted or depressed’ at least some of the time, compared with 12% of those without a chronic illness in 2025.
The at risk of poverty rate for people with a long-standing severe activity limitation due to a health problem was 20.8% in 2025, compared with 9.8% for those who were ‘not limited’.
The enforced deprivation rate for people who reported ‘very bad’ health was 33.0%, compared with a rate of 8.2% for those with ‘very good’ health.
The SILC is a household survey covering a broad range of topics related to income and living conditions. It is the official source of data on household and individual income and provides a number of key national poverty indicators, such as the at risk of poverty rate, the consistent poverty rate, and rates of enforced deprivation. This is the fourth release from the 2025 round of the SILC. This release focuses on poverty related indicators and well-being indicators, analysed by self-reported health status variables.
Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) Enforced Deprivation 2025, published 8 December 2025 and revised on 11 March 2026, focused on deprivation.
Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) 2025, published 11 March 2026, focused on poverty and income indicators.
Well-being - Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) 2025, published 25 March 2026, focused on life satisfaction and other well-being indicators.
To determine Global Activity Limitation Indicator (GALI) status, SILC survey respondents aged 16 years and older were asked the following question with three answer options.
Q. Are you limited because of a health problem in activities people usually do? Would you say you are:
Respondents who answered 'Severely limited' or 'Limited but not severely' were asked a further question:
Q. Have you been limited for at least the past six months?
Respondents who were 'severely limited' in usual activities for at least six months prior to their interview date are classified as 'severely limited', those 'limited but not severely' for at least six months are classified as 'limited but not severely'. Respondents who answered, 'Not limited at all', along with respondents limited for less than six months, are classified as not limited.
Survey respondents aged 16 years and over were asked two additional questions related to their health. The first one related to self-perceived general health:
Q. How would you describe your health in general? Is it…
The second related to the presence of chronic morbidity:
Q. Do you have any long-standing illness or longstanding health problem? By long-standing I mean illnesses or health problems which have lasted, or are expected to last, for six months or more.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (30 June 2026) published further results from the Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) for 2025. This release presents results on poverty, deprivation, and well-being for people aged 16 years and over, analysed by their self-perceived health: general health status, long-standing limitations in usual activities measured by the Global Activity Limitation Indicator (GALI) and chronic illness status. The Editor’s Note describes the questions used to derive the GALI status, self-perceived general health, and the presence of a chronic illness.
Commenting on today’s release, Cian Martin, Statistician in the Income, Consumption and Wealth Division, said:
“Today’s results from the CSO’s SILC 2025 show that poverty rates and rates of enforced deprivation are higher and self-perceived well-being is lower in respondents with poorer health.
Deprivation Rates Higher among those with Severe Activity Limitation
In SILC, the identification of people living in enforced deprivation is currently achieved based on a set of 11 basic deprivation indicators (See Survey on Income and Living Conditions Fact Sheet).
People ‘severely limited’ for at least six months in usual activities because of a health problem had higher deprivation rates across all 11 SILC deprivation indicators compared with those ‘not limited’. For example, 14.1% of those ‘severely limited’ went without heating at some stage in the last year compared with 5.2% of people who were ‘not limited’.
In 2025, 19% of those ‘severely limited’ could not afford new (not second-hand) clothes compared with 4.9% of those ‘not limited’. A fifth (19.4%) of ‘severely limited’ people were unable to afford to get together once a month with family or friends for a drink or a meal, compared with 7.1% of those ‘not limited’.
The enforced deprivation rate, the percentage of households who cannot afford two or more of the 11 deprivation items, stood at 14% in 2025 for those aged 16 and over. This rate varied substantially by health status. The enforced deprivation rate for those reporting ‘very bad’ general health was over four times higher than the rate for those with ‘very good’ health (33% and 8.2% respectively). The enforced deprivation rate was 21.8% for those with a self-reported chronic illness, twice as high as those without a chronic illness (10.8%). Among people who described themselves as ‘severely limited’ in usual activities, more than one in three (34.3%) were living in enforced deprivation, compared with 23.4% of people who described themselves as ‘limited but not severely’, and 10.9% of those ‘not limited’.
Poverty Rates by Self-Reported Health Status
The at risk of poverty rate for those aged 16 and over was 11.7% in 2025, up from 10.8% in 2024. The rate for people with a self-reported chronic illness was 15.6%, compared with 9.9% for those without a chronic illness. For people who perceived their health as ‘very bad’, the at risk of poverty rate was 27.4%, three times the 8.8% rate for those with a ‘very good’ perception of their health. One in five (20.8%) of those ‘severely limited’ in usual activities were at risk of poverty, compared with 17.7% of those ‘limited but not severely’, and 9.8% for those who were ‘not limited’.
The consistent poverty rate is defined as people who are both at risk of poverty and experiencing enforced deprivation. In 2025, 4.0% of those aged 16 and over were living in consistent poverty. Among those people ‘severely limited’ in usual activities, the consistent poverty rate was 9.9%, more than three times higher than the 2.7% rate for those not limited.
Arrears in Utility Bills and Households
Looking at households with a person who was ‘severely limited’ in usual activities for a period of at least six months, 16.8% reported there was at least one occasion in the past 12 months where they failed to pay a utility bill on time due to financial difficulties. The comparable rate for households where all household members were ‘not limited‘ was 5.8%. Households with a ‘severely limited’ household member reported greater difficulty in making ends meet and a greater financial burden from total housing costs. In 2025, 17.9% of households with a ‘severely limited’ household member reported great difficulty in making ends meet. The rate for households where all household members were ‘not limited’ was 3.6%.
More than two-fifths (42.2%) of households with a ‘severely limited’ household member considered housing costs a heavy burden. This was significantly higher than the rate for households where all household members were ‘not limited’ (20.9%).
Self-Perceived Well-being Scores Lower for those whose self-reported Health status is Poor
Among those who reported ‘bad or very bad’ general health, 7.7% said they felt ‘lonely’ all the time, compared with 0.2% of those who had ‘very good’ general health.
People with a chronic illness were more than twice as likely to report feeling ‘downhearted or depressed’ at least some of the time than those who said they had no such chronic illness (24.6% and 12% respectively).”