Cyprus job vacancies rise as retail and education lead hiring

Cyprus recorded a rise in job vacancies in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to the statistical service (Cystat).

Overall, this points to firmer labour demand than a year earlier, while hiring eased from the previous quarter.

Cystat said the number of job vacancies reached 13,538 in the fourth quarter of 2025, up by 541 from 12,997 in the same period of 2024.

Compared with the third quarter of 2025, however, vacancies fell by 1,035 from 14,573.

Meanwhile, the job vacancy rate stood at 2.8 per cent, down from 3 per cent in the third quarter of 2025 and unchanged from the 2.8 per cent recorded a year earlier.

Among the main sectors, wholesale and retail trade accounted for the highest number of openings, with 3,076 vacancies in the fourth quarter of 2025. That compares with 3,358 in the previous quarter and 2,479 a year earlier.

Accommodation and food service activities followed with 1,825 vacancies, down from 2,519 in the third quarter and 2,431 in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Professional, scientific and technical activities, for their part, recorded 1,371 vacancies, up from 1,080 in the previous quarter and 1,315 a year earlier.

Elsewhere, construction posted 1,117 vacancies, against 1,383 in the third quarter and 920 a year earlier, while manufacturing stood at 946, down from 1,146 and 1,026 respectively.

Administrative and support service activities, in turn, rose to 870 vacancies from 779 in the previous quarter and 517 a year earlier, while information and communication was broadly stable at 818, compared with 816 in the third quarter and 750 in the corresponding period of 2024.

In rate terms, administrative and support service activities recorded the highest vacancy rate at 3.9 per cent.

It was followed by wholesale and retail trade at 3.8 per cent and mining and quarrying at 3.6 per cent.

At the same time, arts, entertainment and recreation stood at 3.3 per cent, accommodation and food service activities at 3.2 per cent, and professional, scientific and technical activities at 3.1 per cent.

By comparison, some of the clearest annual increases in vacancy numbers were recorded in education, where openings rose to 625 from 196, in administrative and support service activities, where they climbed to 870 from 517, and in wholesale and retail trade, where they increased to 3,076 from 2,479.

At the same time, accommodation and food service activities fell to 1,825 from 2,431, human health and social work activities declined to 609 from 880, and financial and insurance activities dropped to 387 from 635.

Compared with the third quarter, the most notable increase came in public administration and defence, where vacancies rose to 683 from 368.

Professional, scientific and technical activities also moved higher, reaching 1,371 from 1,080, while real estate activities increased to 134 from 77.

By contrast, accommodation and food service activities fell to 1,825 from 2,519, construction declined to 1,117 from 1,383, and transportation and storage dropped to 408 from 643.

Finally, among the smaller sectors, mining and quarrying reached 22 vacancies, up from 3 a year earlier, though below the 37 recorded in the third quarter, while electricity supply stood at 11, compared with 2 a year earlier and 59 in the previous quarter.