Cyprus sees lower unemployment despite rise in youth joblessness

Cyprus’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 4.3 per cent in December 2025, according to Eurostat, highlighting improved labour market conditions compared with a year earlier.

The statistical office of the European Union said the euro area unemployment rate declined to 6.2 per cent in December 2025, down from 6.3 per cent in November 2025 and also lower than in December 2024.

Across the wider bloc, the EU unemployment rate stood at 5.9 per cent in December 2025, remaining stable compared with both November 2025 and December 2024.

Eurostat estimated that 13,043,000 people were unemployed in the EU in December 2025, of whom 10,792,000 were in the euro area.

Compared with November 2025, unemployment fell by 94,000 people in the EU and by 61,000 people in the euro area.

Compared with December 2024, unemployment increased by 71,000 people in the EU but decreased by 5,000 people in the euro area.

In Cyprus, the number of unemployed people fell to approximately 23,000 in December 2025, down from roughly 24,000 in December 2024.

This decline was reflected in the unemployment rate, which eased from 4.7 per cent in December 2024 to 4.3 per cent in December 2025.

Eurostat data also showed that youth unemployment in Cyprus rose despite the overall improvement.

In December 2025, approximately 4,000 young people under the age of 25 were unemployed in Cyprus, compared with around 3,000 in December 2024.

The youth unemployment rate in Cyprus increased to 12.9 per cent in December 2025, up from 10 per cent a year earlier.

Across the EU, 2,857,000 young people were unemployed in December 2025, of whom 2,257,000 were in the euro area.

The EU youth unemployment rate fell to 14.7 per cent in December 2025, down from 14.9 per cent in November 2025.

In the euro area, youth unemployment eased to 14.3 per cent, compared with 14.4 per cent in the previous month.

Compared with November 2025, youth unemployment declined by 16,000 people in the EU and by 12,000 people in the euro area.

Compared with December 2024, youth unemployment fell by 18,000 people in the EU and by 31,000 people in the euro area.

Eurostat also highlighted differences by gender, showing that the unemployment rate for women in the EU fell to 6.0 per cent in December 2025 from 6.1 per cent a month earlier.

The unemployment rate for men in the EU stood at 5.8 per cent, remaining stable compared with November 2025.

In the euro area, female unemployment was recorded at 6.4 per cent, while male unemployment stood at 6.1 per cent, with both rates unchanged from the previous month.

Eurostat said the estimates are based on the International Labour Organisation standard definition of unemployment, which counts people without a job who have actively sought work in the past four weeks and are available to start within the next two weeks.

To provide a fuller picture of labour market conditions, unemployment data were complemented by additional indicators such as underemployed part-time workers and people marginally attached to the labour force.

These additional indicators were released alongside EU Labour Force Survey data for the third quarter of 2025.