Lanzarote’s Poverty Rate Has Risen Since the Early 2000s – But the Latest Figures Show Some Improvement
Lanzarote is often associated with sunshine, tourism, beautiful beaches and a relatively relaxed way of life. Behind that picture, however, the island also faces some important social and economic challenges.
New figures covering 2025 show that the proportion of people in Lanzarote living below the statistical poverty threshold is considerably higher than it was at the start of the century. At the same time, the latest data also show that the situation has improved noticeably since the difficult years around the pandemic.
What do the latest Lanzarote poverty figures show?
According to the 2025 Survey of Income and Living Conditions of Canary Households, published by the Canary Islands Statistics Institute (ISTAC), 15.69% of Lanzarote's population was below the poverty threshold in 2025.
For households, the figure was 17.22%.
The poverty threshold used for the 2025 study was €797 per month.
For comparison, across the Canary Islands as a whole, 17.55% of the population and 19.32% of households were below the same threshold.
That means Lanzarote was performing somewhat better than the Canary Islands average in 2025.
Lanzarote has changed considerably since the early 2000s
The long-term figures provide an interesting picture.
In 2001, 9.4% of Lanzarote's population was below the poverty threshold, compared with 18.6% across the Canary Islands.
Lanzarote's lowest recorded figure came in 2004, when the rate fell to 8.6% of the population and 8.4% of households.
By 2025, the population figure had risen to 15.69%.
So while the current rate is not quite double the 2001 figure, it is substantially higher than the levels recorded during the island's lowest point in the early 2000s. From the 2004 low of 8.6% to 15.69% in 2025, the increase is 7.09 percentage points.
This is particularly significant because Lanzarote recorded the largest increase of any Canary Island over that period.
The situation became worse before it started improving
The figures also show that Lanzarote's economic difficulties have not followed a straight line.
After the financial crisis, the percentage of people below the poverty threshold increased. It reached 14.3% in 2007 and 15.6% in 2013.
The situation deteriorated further during the following years. In 2018, the rate was 18.41%.
The most difficult point in the recent series came in 2022. At that time, 19.89% of Lanzarote's population and 19.26% of households were below the poverty threshold, which was €680 per month for that year's measurement.
Since then, there has been a clear improvement.
Between 2022 and 2025, Lanzarote's population poverty rate fell by around 4.2 percentage points, from 19.89% to 15.69%.
That improvement was greater than the reduction recorded across the Canary Islands as a whole, where the rate fell by around 3 percentage points over the same period.
Lanzarote compared with the other Canary Islands
Lanzarote's position is relatively favourable when the islands are compared using the 2025 figures.
Only Fuerteventura had a lower percentage of its population below the poverty threshold, at 14.88%.
Lanzarote's 15.69% compared with:
• Fuerteventura: 14.88%
• Lanzarote: 15.69%
• Tenerife: 17.52%
• Canary Islands average: 17.55%
• Gran Canaria: 17.68%
• La Gomera: 19.89%
• La Palma: 21.98%
• El Hierro: 28.07%
So although poverty in Lanzarote remains an important issue, the island is not currently at the bottom of the Canary Islands table.
Poverty and the cost of living in Lanzarote
These statistics are also worth considering alongside the wider cost-of-living picture.
The official Canary Islands survey found that average disposable household income across the archipelago increased between 2022 and 2025. At the same time, the proportion of people considered at risk of poverty decreased.
However, the figures also show that many households continue to experience financial pressure.
In the Canary Islands, more than half of households reported some degree of difficulty reaching the end of the month. The latest survey also found that 50% of the population could not cover an unexpected expense.
These figures help explain why the cost of living in Lanzarote is such an important subject for residents, even though the island remains a popular destination for visitors.
Why the figures need to be read carefully
There is an important distinction between the poverty rate and the wider AROPE measure for poverty or social exclusion.
The 15.69% figure refers specifically to the population below the poverty threshold used in the 2025 income and living-conditions survey.
The broader AROPE indicator also takes account of factors such as severe material and social deprivation and living in a household with very low work intensity.
For the Canary Islands, the 2025 AROPE figure was 28.7% in the latest EICVHC-2025 release using the updated European 2030 methodology.
These are different measures and should not be treated as interchangeable.
A changing Lanzarote
The latest Lanzarote poverty statistics tell a more complicated story than the headline alone suggests.
Yes, poverty levels are considerably higher than they were during the island's low point in the early 2000s. But the latest figures also show a substantial improvement since 2022.
Lanzarote remains below the Canary Islands average for people below the poverty threshold and has the second-lowest rate among the islands in the 2025 figures.
For residents, the cost of living, household finances and access to secure employment remain important issues. For tourists, it is a reminder that behind the beaches, resorts and holiday apartments is a permanent island community with its own economic challenges.
Lanzarote remains a hugely popular place to visit and live, but understanding the realities faced by local residents gives visitors a more complete picture of the island they are enjoying.
