Of all the 28 European Union member states, the poorest is Bulgaria, which has only recently joined (like Romania, the second poorest state). These countries are EU members but are not in the Eurozone (the poorest country in the Eurozone is currently Greece).

In EU terms Bulgaria is a small to middle-sized country with a population of about seven and a half million. The average household income is less than 400 euros a month, and 20 per cent of the workforce are on the minimum wage which is exceptionally low.

However, as happens in some other poor EU states, there is a lot of unofficial or 'black economy' business so many people do have another source of income. The cost of living is also relatively low, and in fact some people from other EU countries have moved to Bulgaria for this reason. You can read more about this here.