Schwerin (dpa / mv) – Every eighth inhabitant of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is severely disabled. At the end of 2021, 200,285 people with a severe disability lived in the state, as the MV Statistical Office announced on Thursday. That is 12 percent of the population. Compared to the previous survey in 2019, the number of people who were awarded a degree of disability of 50 or more by the pension offices increased by 6,315.
According to the office, severe disabilities are mainly due to illnesses. Only five percent of those affected were born with a handicap, with another two percent the disability arose from an accident or an occupational disease. Another 11 percent were attributable to other, multiple or unknown causes.
The probability of a severe disability increases with advancing age. At the end of 2021, around 57 percent of those affected were 65 years and older, as the statisticians found. The increasing aging of society is reflected in the proportion of severely disabled people in the population: within ten years – from 2011 to 2021 – according to the office, it rose from ten to twelve percent.
