Rome, Jun 16 (IANS): A total of 11.1 per cent of Italy's households were classified as being under relative poverty in 2021, up from 10.1 per cent a year earlier, the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) said in a report.

There were 2.9 million households suffering from relative poverty, an increase from 2.6 million, Xinhua news agency quoted the statistics office as saying.

The term "relative poverty" refers to families or individuals who live on an income less than half that of average households in an area.

ISTAT figures also showed that more than 1.9 million Italian households were in absolute poverty in 2021, accounting for 7.5 per cent of all households, down from 7.7 per cent in 2020.

In 2006, the percentage of Italian households living in absolute poverty was just 3.5 per cent, according to ISTAT data.

The term "absolute poverty" refers to a state where a family or individual lacks access to healthy food, adequate housing, electricity, education and clean water.