People in Wales are more at risk of dying in poverty than any other UK nation, according to a new report.

The disturbing finding was revealed by Marie Curie, an end-of-life charity, based on research by Loughborough University.

It showed that 30 percent of terminally ill, working-age people in Wales spent their final year of life in poverty, compared with 28 percent in England and 26 percent in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

"Working-age people" is defined as those aged between 20-64 years.

“Thousands of people across Wales are reaching the end of their lives in poverty, unable to make the most of the time they have left because of unaffordable bills and a constant fear about making ends meet," said Natasha Wynne, policy and research manager at Marie Curie Wales.

"The scale of those dying in poverty in Wales is simply unacceptable - one in three people of working age, and almost a fifth of pensioners, are in this position.

“While soaring energy bills and other household costs are impacting people from all walks of life, those with terminal illnesses are among the worst affected.

"They are unable to work as their health declines, and they face a number of unique and inescapable costs as a result of their illness – including paying for home adaptations and travel for medical appointments.

"In far too many cases, all of this combines to create a perfect storm of misery and financial hardship for dying people."

More than 6,600 people in Wales die in poverty every year, the charity said.

The trend was most severe in Cardiff, with well over a third (36 per cent) of terminally ill people in the capital spending their final year of life in poverty, along with 23 per cent of pensioners.

Cardiff was closely followed by Newport and Blaenau Gwent.

“We need concrete solutions from both Westminster and the Welsh Government and we need them quickly," Ms Wynne added.

"We want those diagnosed with a terminal illness to have a better quality of life in the time they have left.

"It’s an appalling indictment of our society if we sit back and do nothing to address this.”

For the study, researchers used the definition of poverty set out by the Social Metrics Commission, which considers the extent to which a person's resources, after housing costs, meet their needs.

This definition takes into account all of the financial resources available to a person - such as savings, wages and investments - and compares this with their living costs, including "inescapable costs" like childcare and disability needs.

“Our research, for the first time, not only tells us how many people die in poverty but shines a light on who these people are, where they live in the UK and the triggers, such as terminal illness, which force them below the poverty line," said Juliet Stone, from the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University.

"We are proud of this work, but the findings break my heart.

“Everyone who has received a bill, filled up their car or done the weekly shop knows the cost of living is high and rising.

"For people with terminal illness, the challenges ahead - both physically and financially - are unimaginable.

"The numbers in our research are almost certainly worse now and will only get higher in the coming months as the cost of living crisis deepens.”

The report is the latest in a number of stark findings relating to poverty in Wales.

Last month, official figures suggested that almost 200,000 households in Wales – roughly 14 per cent – were living in fuel poverty in October 2021, with a further 153,000 households were at risk.

Wales is thought to have the worst rate of child poverty in the United Kingdom, meanwhile, with around one in three children here living below the poverty line.

Marie Curie is calling for the Welsh Government, local authorities and employers to take urgent action to support people diagnosed with a terminal condition, including increasing awareness of and support to claim key benefits, support with fuel poverty, supporting people to continue working if they are able and wish to, as well as support with childcare costs.

The charity is also calling for people across the UK to get early access to their State Pension, saying that the benefits system for working age people who are dying fails to protect them from falling into hardship.

A petition by Marie Curie calling for action can be signed here.