As much as 8 percent of European Union residents could not afford to keep their home adequately warm in 2020, according to a survey conducted by the European statistical office Eurostat, published on Friday.

The situation varied across the EU Member States with the largest share of people saying that they were unable to keep their home adequately warm in Bulgaria (27 percent), followed by Lithuania (23 percent), Cyprus (21 percent). Also in Portugal and Greece the issue was prevalent (both with 17 precent), the European Statistical Office announced.

On the other hand, the countries with the lowest number of people admitting to having problems with paying their heating bills were Austria (1.5 percent), Finland (1.8 percent), the Czech Republic (2.2 percent) and the Netherlands (2.4 percent).

In Poland, this issue affected 3.2 percent of respondents, and 9 percent in Germany.

Moreover, according to recent Eurostat data, Poland is at the forefront of EU countries where children have a smaller risk of poverty or social exclusion. “In 2020, 24.2 percent of children (less than 18 years old) in the EU were at risk of poverty or social exclusion,” the Eurostat study said.

Romania (41.5 percent), Bulgaria (36.2 percent), Spain (31.8 percent) and Greece (31.5 percent) recorded the highest rates of children at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2020. On the other hand Slovenia (12.1 percent) and Czechia (12.9 percent) had the lowest rates. Poland was found to have a rate of 16.1 percent.