Cyprus ranked 14th in EU regarding the percentage of general government expenditure allocated for fire-protection services in 2023, with 0.4%, according to Eurostat.
With this percentage, Cyprus was behind 13 member states, had the same share as another nine member states and was in a better place than four states.
In 2023 Cyprus allocated €46.4 million on fire-protection services, which amounted to 0.4% of the general government expenditure. The average percentage in EU was 0.5%. Romania had the highest share of expenditure on fire-protection services at 0.9% of general government total expenditure, followed by Estonia and Greece with 0.7% each. By contrast, Denmark reported the lowest share of expenditure on fire-protection services (0.1%), followed by Malta (0.2%), Portugal and Austria (both 0.3%).
In total, EU governments spent €40.6 billion on fire-protection services in 2023, reflecting an 8.5% increase in the general government expenditure on this function compared with 2022 (€37.4 billion). The increase in expenditure on fire-protection services in absolute numbers is however, in line with the increases in other functions, so that fire-protection services have consistently accounted for 0.5% of total government expenditure since 2017.
Cyprus' percentage in 2023 was increased, compared to 2022, when 0.3% or €38.7 million was allocated for that purpose.
Although, according to Eurostat, Cyprus' data for 2024 are considered of "low reliability", Cyprus ranked in 6th place, with Poland, in the share of firefighters in the total employment, at 0.28%. According to the data, in 2024 there were 1,300 firefighters employed in Cyprus, out of a total of 487,000 employees.
In the same year, the EU countries combined had 390,600 professional firefighters, representing 0.19% of the total EU employment. Compared with 2023, the number of firefighters increased by 28,200.
Among the 20 EU countries with available data, Croatia registered the highest share of firefighters in total employment (0.45%). Greece followed with 0.41%, ahead of Czechia with 0.34%. The lowest shares were registered in the Netherlands (0.07%), Denmark (0.08%) and Sweden (0.10%).
Across the EU, 75.2% of all professional firefighters were aged 15 to 49. That’s a noticeably younger workforce compared with the total EU employment, where only 64.8% of workers fall into that age group.
(Source: CNA)
