Economic and social exclusion in the European Community in the years 2011-2022

Subject and purpose of work The subject-matter and aim of this paper is to present the extent of poverty and economic and social exclusion in the countries of the European Union (EU-27). The specific aim is the comparative assessment and reduction of these processes between 2011 and 2022. Material and methods The paper is based on an analysis of official EUROSTAT statistics. The TOPSIS taxonomic method was used for comparative evaluation, making it possible to measure and assess synthetically the variation of poverty across countries in dynamic terms for the selected years 2011, 2016 and 2022. Results On the basis of the collected empirical material, a multivariate synthetic assessment of the level of economic and social exclusion in all EU-27 member states was made. The extent of the variation and changes in this process were compared in dynamic terms using the taxonomic approach. Conclusions The analysis of the results confirmed the existence of considerable variation in the occurrence of the “components” of economic and social exclusion. The results of the multivariate analysis helped made it possible to prepare a ranking and typology of similarities between countries. The analysis confirms the partial achievement of the poverty-reducing goals of the EU strategies, although not to the same extent and in the same pace, by EU countries.