ECONOMY: Cyprus employment rate for graduates below EU average at 81.3%

Cyprus is at the lower end of the EU scale when it comes to the employment rate for tertiary education graduates aged 20-34.

In 2018, for graduates aged 20-34 in the EU who had attained a tertiary level education within the previous three years, the employment rate stood at 85.5% in Cyprus the rate was a lower 81.3%. Among women graduates in Cyprus the employment rate was a higher 83% and 78.6% for men.

The EU average is 0.6 percentage points above the rate in 2017 and 1.4 percentage points below the previous high point of 86.9% in 2008.

EU Member States with the highest employment rates for recent tertiary graduates in 2018 were Malta (96.7%), the Netherlands (94.8%), Germany (94.3%) and Luxembourg (94.0%).

In contrast, there were four EU Member States where the rate was less than 80%: Spain (77.9%), Croatia (75.2%), Italy (62.8%) and Greece (59%). 

Young people with a tertiary level of educational attainment (ISCED levels 5-8) recorded the highest employment rates and were generally better shielded from the risks of unemployment than their peers who entered the labour market with lower levels of educational attainment.