(ANSA) - BELGRADE, 15 GEN - Four European Union countries, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Bulgaria, have registered a very high percentage of pensioners at risk of poverty, much above the EU average of 14.2%. According to new Eurostat data, released today, in 2017 the proportion of pensioners at risk of poverty was 46% in Estonia, 44% in Latvia, 37% in Lithuania and 32% in Bulgaria. Between 2010 and 2017, the Baltic states have registered a significant increase in the number of pensioners at risk of poverty, Eurostat data show, with the proportion growing by 28% in Estonia and by 24% in Latvia and Lithuania, while no significant changes were recorded in Bulgaria and Croatia, a slight increase in Romania, a moderate decrease in Slovenia. At EU level, the percentage is increasing since 2013, when it was at 12.6%, to the current 14.2%. The proportion was high also in other countries in Central- and Eastern Europe, including Croatia (24.5%), Romania (16.1%) and Slovenia (15.9%). Conversely, the lowest rates in 2017 were recorded in France (7%), but also in Slovakia (7.6%) Hungary (9.1%) and the Czech Republic (10.8%). (ANSA).