Cyprus unemployment down to 5% in Q1 of 2025

Cyprus recorded a further decline in unemployment during the first quarter of 2025, according to the Labour Force Survey results released by CySTAT.

The unemployment rate fell to 5.0%, down from 5.8% in the same quarter of 2024, with the number of unemployed dropping to 26,161 from 29,102.

Rise in Labour Force and Employment

The labour force increased to 519,433 people or 64.4% of the population, showing a slight rise from 505,963 (64.6%) in Q1 2024. The number of employed individuals reached 493,272, an increase of over 16,400 compared to the previous year, raising the employment rate to 61.2% from 60.8%.

Employment strengthened significantly among men (66.6% vs. 64.9% in 2024), while it saw a slight decrease among women (55.9% vs. 57.1%).

Among those aged 20–64, the employment rate reached 80% (men 85.5%, women 74.6%), compared to 78.5% in the same quarter last year (men 82.6%, women 74.8%). For those aged 55–64, the employment rate was 69.9%, up from 69.1% in Q1 2024.

By economic sector, services continued to dominate with 81.1% of total employment, followed by industry (16.8%) and agriculture (2.1%). The corresponding figures for Q1 2024 were: services 81.1%, industry 16.5%, and agriculture 2.4%.

Part-time employment accounted for 8.8% of the total workforce, or 43,529 individuals (men 6.4%, women 11.6%), compared to 9.2% in Q1 2024 (men 7.0%, women 11.4%).

Of all employed persons, 90.3% (445,598) were employees, and 12.9% (57,550) of them held temporary positions. In Q1 2024, employees represented 89.6% of total employment, with 12.8% in temporary work.

Drop in youth unemployment

Youth unemployment (ages 15–24) dropped significantly to 11.2%, down from 16.0% a year earlier. The decline was more pronounced among young men, falling to 13.0% from 17.5%.

Regarding unemployment duration, 61.3% of jobseekers had been looking for work for less than six months, 15.2% for 6–11 months, and 23.5% were long-term unemployed (12 months or more). These figures compare to 59.5%, 13.8%, and 26.7%, respectively, in Q1 2024.

(Source: CNA)