Total employment in Cyprus rose to 531,062 persons, representing 65.2 per cent of the population, in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to the Labour Force Survey released by the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat) on Thursday.

In the corresponding quarter of 2024, the labour force stood at 518,053 persons, accounting for 64.3 per cent of the population.

Of the total, 509,773 persons were employed, pushing the employment rate to 62.6 per cent, compared with 494,600 persons and 61.4 per cent a year earlier.

At the same time, the number of unemployed persons declined to 21,289, bringing the unemployment rate down to 4 per cent of the labour force, from 4.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Breaking the figures down by gender, male unemployment stood at 3.8 per cent, while female unemployment reached 4.2 per cent.

The employment rate rose to 67.6 per cent for men and 57.9 per cent for women.

For the core working-age group of 20-64, the employment rate climbed to 81.7 per cent, up from 80.2 per cent in the same quarter of 2024.

Among those aged 55-64, the rate increased to 71.7 per cent, compared with 69.9 per cent a year earlier.

In terms of sectoral distribution, the vast majority of employed persons worked in services (81.3 per cent), followed by industry (16.5 per cent) and agriculture (2.2 per cent).

The respective shares a year earlier stood at 81.2 per cent, 16.5 per cent and 2.3 per cent.

Turning to working patterns, 8.6 per cent of total employment, corresponding to 43,703 persons, were in part-time roles, compared with 8.8 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Employees accounted for 90.2 per cent of total employment, amounting to 460,003 persons.

Of these, 14.8 per cent held temporary contracts, up from 13.6 per cent in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Youth unemployment, however, increased sharply. Among those aged 15-24, the unemployment rate reached 14.7 per cent, compared with 9.6 per cent a year earlier.

As regards duration, 66.6 per cent of unemployed persons had been seeking work for less than six months, 15.1 per cent for between six and eleven months, while 18.3 per cent were classified as long-term unemployed, down from 25.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Cystat noted that the Labour Force Survey is conducted quarterly across all European Union member states and is based on a sample of 3,800 households in Cyprus, covering the population of private households only, that reside in urban and rural areas.