Unemployment above EU average

Last year, the unemployment rate of people aged 15-74 in Cyprus was 6.8%, a little higher than the EU average (6.2%), according to Eurostat data.

The unemployment rate among the young was also above the EU average in Cyprus.

Cyprus is considered a single region on the NUTS 2 level for statistics purposes due to the size of the country’s population.

The lowest unemployment rates on a regional level in the EU were recorded in Central Bohemia (1.2%), Prague (1.6%), South-East and South-West in Czechia as well as Central Transdanubia in Hungary (all 1.7%).

At the opposite end of the scale, the highest unemployment rates were registered in the Spanish regions of Ceuta (28.4%), Melilla (21.6%) and Andalusia (19.0%), along with the outermost region Guadeloupe in France (18.6%).

Compared with 2021, the highest increases in the unemployment rate were registered in the Spanish regions of Melilla and Ceuta (both +1.8 percentage points; pp) and the outermost region of Guadeloupe in France (+1.5 pp).

The highest decreases were recorded in the South Aegean region in Greece (-8.1 pp), the Canary Islands in Spain (-5.6 pp) and Western Greece (-4.9 pp).

The average unemployment rate for young people between 15 and 29 in Cyprus was 14.1% (-0.1 pp compared with 2021) while 11.3% at the EU level (-1.7 pp compared with 2021).

Marked regional differences were also recorded in the unemployment rates for young people.

The regions with the lowest rates were Central Bohemia (1.7%), South-West (3.1%) and Prague (3.2%) in Czechia, Upper Bavaria in Germany (3.3%), closely followed by West Transdanubia in Hungary (3.6%).

In contrast, the highest rates were recorded in Ceuta in Spain (42.4%), the Greek region of Thessaly (39.8%), Central Greece (36.5%), and another region in Spain, Melilla (36.1%).

Campania and Sicily in Italy (both 34.2%) and West Macedonia in Greece (34.3%) also had high rates of unemployment among young people.