Wages in Cyprus continue to rise, as does the number of job vacancies.
According to new data from the Cyprus Statistical Service, hourly labor costs on the island increased by 4.8% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year.
This increase applies to wages and related employer costs, including social security contributions and other mandatory payments. Despite this positive trend, Cyprus lags behind most EU countries in terms of labor cost growth. According to Eurostat, the increase in the eurozone was 3.4%, and 4.1% in the EU as a whole, over the same period. Notably, wage costs in the EU rose by 4.2%, while non-wage costs increased by 3.8%. At the same time, rates were significantly higher in some countries. For instance, Romania's hourly labor cost increased by over 16%, while Croatia's increased by 13.5%. These changes reflect the countries' internal economic shifts and market specifics.
Against this backdrop, positive developments were also recorded in the Cypriot labor market.
In the first quarter of 2025, there were 13,524 job vacancies on the island, 295 more than in the same period last year. The vacancy rate was 2.9%, slightly exceeding the previous quarter's figure of 2.8%, though it did not reach the level of the first quarter of 2024, when the rate was 3%. This indicates a stabilization of the labor market where job supply is growing slowly but steadily.
Conversely, the trend across the European Union is declining: the number of job vacancies fell by 2.2% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the previous quarter. This decline may reflect employers' caution amid economic uncertainty and the slower pace of recovery in some national economies.
Thus, Cyprus is showing steady and positive employment and wage dynamics, outperforming European trends in several indicators. These data may indicate growing business confidence, increased economic activity, and rising demand for skilled labor.