Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
6.3% of people aged 16 and over in the European Union who need dental care reported being unable to obtain it due to financial reasons, long waiting lists, or distance from dental providers, according to 2024 figures. Published by Eurostat, the European Statistical Office in Brussels.
He added, "Among EU countries, the proportion of people with unmet dental care needs was highest in Greece (27.1%), Latvia (16.5%), and Romania (16.2%). The lowest proportions were observed in Malta (0.4%), Germany (0.9%), and Croatia (1.1%).

The data indicate that the proportion of people at risk of poverty who reported unmet dental care needs in 2024 was significantly higher, at 13.7%, compared to the proportion of those not at risk of poverty, which was 5.1%. A similar pattern was observed across all EU countries.

The most significant differences in reporting unmet dental care needs were observed in Romania, where 43.5% of people at risk of poverty reported unmet dental care needs compared to 12.6% of those not at risk, a gap of 30.9 percentage points; and in Greece, where 43.5% of people at risk of poverty reported unmet dental care needs compared to 12.6% of those not at risk, a gap of 30.9 percentage points. 52.8% of people at risk of poverty reported unmet dental care needs, compared to 22.7% of those not at risk, a gap of 30.1 percentage points. Significant differences were also observed in Latvia (24.5 percentage points) and Portugal (20.5 percentage points). In contrast, Germany (1.3 percentage points), Malta (1.5 percentage points), and Poland (1.7 percentage points) recorded the narrowest gaps between rates of unmet dental care needs among people at risk of poverty and those not at risk of poverty.