Cyprus’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate climbed to 5 per cent in July 2025, rising slightly from 4.7 per cent in June and 4.7 per cent a year earlier, according to Eurostat figures released on Monday.

In absolute terms, Eurostat estimated that about 27,000 people were unemployed in Cyprus in July, compared with 25,000 in June and 24,000 in July 2024. 

By contrast, the euro area jobless rate eased to 6.2 per cent, down from 6.3 per cent in June and 6.4 per cent a year ago.  

Likewise, unemployment across the European Union as a whole slipped to 5.9 per cent, compared with 6 per cent in June and unchanged from July 2024. 

Altogether, Eurostat estimated that 13 million people were unemployed in the EU, including 10.8 million in the euro area.  

Month on month, this marked a fall of 165,000 in the EU and 170,000 in the euro area.  

Year on year, unemployment was down by 105,000 across the EU and by 161,000 in the eurozone. 

Country disparities remained significant. Cyprus, at 5 per cent, was slightly above Germany (3.5 per cent) and Netherlands (3.3 per cent) but below the eurozone average of 6.2 per cent.  

It also compared favourably with France (7 per cent) and Italy (7.3 per cent), while sitting far below Spain (11.2 per cent) and Greece (10.4 per cent).  

By contrast, its rate was well above the bloc’s lowest performers,  Czechia (2.7 per cent), Poland (3 per cent) and Malta (3 per cent). 

Meanwhile, youth unemployment also showed a modest improvement. In July, 2.8m people under 25 were unemployed in the EU, of whom 2.2m were in the euro area.  

As a result, the youth unemployment rate stood at 14.4 per cent in the EU, easing from 14.8 per cent in June, while in the euro area it declined to 13.9 per cent from 14.3 per cent. 

For Cyprus, youth data are released quarterly rather than monthly. The most recent figures show a jobless rate of 14.8 per cent in June, broadly stable since April but higher than the 11.2 per cent recorded in July 2024.  

This left Cyprus above Germany (5.9 per cent), Czechia (6.3 per cent) and Netherlands (7.9 per cent), but still well below the levels seen in Spain (27.9 per cent), Greece (25.4 per cent) and Italy (21.5 per cent).

The number of unemployed youth in Cyprus has therefore remained close to 4,000.

A gender breakdown reveals further differences. In July, the unemployment rate for women in the EU was 6 per cent, marginally lower than the 6.1 per cent recorded in June, while the rate for men held steady at 5.8 per cent.  

In the euro area, women’s unemployment eased to 6.4 per cent and men’s to 6.1 per cent.  

In Cyprus, however, the rate for men rose to 4.5 per cent, up from 4.2 per cent in June, while for women it increased to 5.6 per cent, compared with 5.3 per cent a month earlier. 

A similar divide was visible among the young. The lowest youth unemployment rates were observed in Germany (5.9 per cent), Czechia (6.3 per cent), Malta (7.2 per cent) and Poland (8.1 per cent).

Other countries such as Austria (8.4 per cent) and Netherlands (7.9 per cent) also fared well.

By contrast, the highest rates were in Spain (27.9 per cent) and Greece (25.4 per cent), followed by Italy (21.5 per cent) and Sweden (19.2 per cent).