Pupils in primary education in Cyprus reached 60,596 in 2024, averaging 11.5 pupils per teacher, according to data published on Tuesday by Eurostat.

The pupil to teacher ratio in Cyprus was lower than the EU average, which was 13.3 pupils per teacher, compared to 2014 when the ratio was 13.6 per teacher.

Only Malta with 27,537 and Luxembourg with 43,020 pupils recorded lower numbers than Cyprus.

In 2024, 23.2 million pupils were in primary education in the EU, a slight decrease of 0.2 per cent or 35,153 pupils from 2023. However, compared with 2014, the number increased by 2.9 per cent or 659,086 pupils.

France registered the largest number of pupils in primary education in 2024 with 4.1 million, followed by Germany with 3.3 million, Spain 2.8 million and Italy 2.6 million.

The number of pupils in primary education reflects population size, demographic structure, and differences in the typical age for starting primary education and the age at which children should start compulsory formal education.

Compared with 2014, the number of pupils in primary education increased in 15 EU countries and decreased in the remaining 11 countries with available data.

Eurostat said the publishing of the data marks International Literacy Day, as primary education programmes are typically designed to provide students with fundamental skills in reading, writing and mathematics – in other words, literacy and numeracy – and to establish a solid foundation for learning and understanding core areas of knowledge, personal and social development.