A survey has found 18.4% of the Irish population cannot afford to get together with friends or family for a drink.

The study from Eurostat says more than one in 10 people in the European Union had the same issue.

While one in six people aged 16 or over are not able to participate in a leisure activity due to deprivation.

Source: Eurostat

Across member states in 2014, more than half (56.1%) of the population in Romania could not afford to regularly participate in a leisure activity, followed by Bulgaria (37.5%), Lithuania (35.2%) and Hungary (32.4%).

In contrast, less than 5% of the population feel unable to regularly participate in a leisure activity in Finland (3.2%), Luxembourg (4.0%) and Sweden (4.2%).

Source: Eurostat

In most member states, the working age population - aged 25 to 64 - is particularly affected by this.

But exceptions in Ireland, Denmark, and the United Kingdom mean the share is higher among young people.

For those aged 65 or over, just over 11% said they cannot afford to get together with friends or family - and 13.5% not able to participate in a leisure activity.

The statistics, which relate to 2014, have only now been released.