Millions of Germans living below poverty line

berlin - The German government proudly announced in January a budget surplus of over 19 billion euros, but the economic prosperity far reflects on all Germans. Nearly 13 million Germans living namely below the poverty line and that number is growing.

This was reported by the German non-profit Balanced Welfare Association (Paritätische Wohlfahrt Verband) that comes with poverty meters each year. The latest figures refer to 2015 as the economic upturn in Germany was in full swing.

The organization calls someone poor if the income is less than 60 percent of the average family income. The number of poor Germans accounts for 15.7 percent of the population and since the unification was not so high in 1989, according to the association.