Cyprus had around 4,400 people employed in the sport sector in 2025, including 1,400 aged between 15 and 29 and 3,000 aged between 30 and 64, according to Eurostat data.

The figures form part of a wider Eurostat overview showing that almost 1.8 million people were employed in sport across the European Union in 2025.

The data showed that Cyprus had no published figure for sports workers aged 65 or over because the estimate was considered to have low reliability and was therefore excluded.

Across the EU, the sport sector employed 1.7979 million people in 2025.

Of these, 651,100 were aged between 15 and 29, while 1.0719 million were aged between 30 and 64 and 74,800 were aged 65 or over.

Cyprus’ 4,400 sports workers accounted for a relatively small share of total EU employment in the sector, with younger workers making up 1,400 of the total.

Among the countries included in the Eurostat data, France had the largest sports workforce, with 340,300 people employed in the sector.

France led the EU sports workforce, followed by Germany with 289,900, Spain with 267,300 and Italy with 209,300 employees.

Denmark, Belgium, Greece, the Czech Republic and Ireland recorded mid-range employment figures, ranging from 40,300 down to 25,600 sports workers.

Bulgaria, Croatia and Estonia reported smaller workforces, with 13,400, 9,200 and 5,200 sports employees respectively.

The age breakdown showed significant differences between countries.

In France, 105,900 sports employees were aged 15 to 29, while 226,400 were aged between 30 and 64 and 8,000 were aged 65 or over.

Germany had 105,500 sports employees aged 15 to 29, 157,100 aged between 30 and 64 and 27,300 aged 65 or over.

Spain recorded 118,900 sports employees aged 15 to 29, 145,800 aged between 30 and 64 and 2,600 aged 65 or over.

Italy had 57,600 sports employees aged 15 to 29, 146,000 aged between 30 and 64 and 5,700 aged 65 or over.

Denmark was among the countries with a comparatively large number of younger sports workers, with 20,400 aged 15 to 29 compared with 17,900 aged between 30 and 64 and 2,100 aged 65 or over.

In Greece, Ireland, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, older sports workers outnumbered younger employees, with 30-to-64-year-olds accounting for the largest share of each country’s sports workforce.

Croatia and Estonia followed a similar age breakdown, with 30-to-64-year-olds representing 6,800 of Croatia’s sports employees and 3,400 of Estonia’s 5,200 total sports workers.

The Eurostat data also highlighted the gender imbalance among students studying sport in tertiary education.

In 2024, there were only two female students for every five male students studying sport at tertiary education level across the EU.

The figures also showed the scale of the EU’s sporting goods manufacturing industry.

In 2024, the bloc had 5,380 manufacturers producing sporting goods, generating combined turnover of €8 billion.

The data provide a broader picture of the economic footprint of sport across the EU, covering both employment and the production of sporting goods, while also highlighting the continuing gender gap among students pursuing sport-related tertiary education.

For Cyprus, the employment figures show a sport workforce of 4,400 people, with the vast majority of those for whom an age breakdown was available falling into the 30 to 64 age group.

Eurostat cautioned that the estimate for sports workers aged 65 or over in Cyprus was of low reliability, meaning it was not included in the published figure.