Belarus: Coverage of social safety net programs in poorest quintile (% of population)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2019, Belarus' coverage of social safety net programs in poorest quintile (% of population) rose 5.43 percentage points on 2018 (from 55.38% to 60.81%).

Across the 8 yearly changes before that (2009 to 2018), the average change was −1.48 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 3.88 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.8 standard deviations above that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 5.43 percentage points in 2019 and the biggest yearly fall was 5.76 percentage points in 2018. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2010 to 2019 the straight-line trend is downward, about 1.1 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 64% of the movement over 9 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

Closest to Belarus in the 2019 ranking

• Poland — 1st of 4: 71.79%
• Honduras — 3rd of 4: 50.39%
• Türkiye — 4th of 4: 39.61%

What this measures

Coverage of social safety net programs shows the percentage of population participating in cash transfers and last resort programs, noncontributory social pensions, other cash transfers programs (child, family and orphan allowances, birth and death grants, disability benefits, and other allowances), conditional cash transfers, in-kind food transfers (food stamps and vouchers, food rations, supplementary feeding, and emergency food distribution), school feeding, other social assistance programs (housing allowances, scholarships, fee waivers, health subsidies, and other social assistance) and public works programs (cash for work and food for work). Estimates include both direct and indirect beneficiaries.

Limitations: When interpreting ASPIRE performance indicators based on household surveys, it is important to note that the extent to which information on specific transfers and programs is captured in the household surveys can vary a lot across countries. Moreover, household surveys do not capture the universe of social protection programs in the country, in best practice cases just the largest programs. As a consequence, ASPIRE indicators are not fully comparable across program categories and countries; however, they provide approximate measures of social protection systems performance.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 11 values

Coverage of social safety net programs in poorest quintile (% of population) in nearby economies

• Armenia — 59.74% (2022)
• Georgia — 74.61% (2021)
• Kyrgyz Republic — 15.31% (2020)
• Poland — 71.79% (2019)
• Türkiye — 39.61% (2019)
• Ukraine — 33.42% (2020)

More social protection & labor data for Belarus

• Net migration — -3,020 (2025)
• Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, female (%) (modeled ILO estimate) — 37.39% (2025)
• Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, male (%) (modeled ILO estimate) — 40.69% (2025)
• Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, total (%) (modeled ILO estimate) — 39.08% (2025)
• Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15-64) (modeled ILO estimate) — 76.56% (2025)
• Labor force participation rate, male (% of male population ages 15-64) (modeled ILO estimate) — 82.75% (2025)
• Labor force participation rate, total (% of total population ages 15-64) (modeled ILO estimate) — 79.58% (2025)

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Questions people ask

What is Belarus's coverage of social safety net programs in poorest quintile (% of population)?

60.81% in 2019, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2008?

It is down 9.06 percentage points from 69.87% in 2008. The highest value was 71.11% in 2009 and the lowest 55.38% in 2018.

Is the latest change in coverage of social safety net programs in poorest quintile (% of population) unusual for Belarus?

In 2019, Belarus' coverage of social safety net programs in poorest quintile (% of population) rose 5.43 percentage points on 2018 (from 55.38% to 60.81%). Across the 8 yearly changes before that (2009 to 2018), the average change was −1.48 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 3.88 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.8 standard deviations above that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator per_sa_allsa.cov_q1_tot, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: ASPIRE: The Atlas of Social Protection - Indicators of Resilience and Equity, World Bank (WB), uri: datatopics.worldbank.org/aspire/, note: Data are based on national representative household surveys. Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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