Cyprus posts EU’s steepest drop in job vacancy rate

Cyprus recorded the largest year-on-year decline in the EU’s job vacancy rate in the second quarter of 2026, as the proportion of unfilled positions fell to 2.6 per cent, according to Eurostat. The job vacancy rate in Cyprus fell by 0.7 percentage points from 3.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2025, marking a sustained decline over the past year. The rate stood at 3.0 per cent in the third quarter of 2025 before falling to 2.8 per cent in both the fourth quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026. It then declined further to 2.6 per cent in the second quarter of 2026, Eurostat reported. Despite the fall, Cyprus continued to record a higher vacancy rate than both the EU and euro area averages, which stood at 2.0 per cent and 2.1 per cent respectively. The latest figures indicate that the gap between Cyprus and the wider European market has narrowed considerably, however. In the second quarter of 2025, Cyprus’ vacancy rate was 1.1 percentage points above the euro area rate and 1.2 percentage points above the EU rate. By the second quarter of 2026, the gap had narrowed to 0.5 and 0.6 percentage points respectively. Eurostat said the job vacancy rate across the euro area fell to 2.1 per cent in the second quarter of 2026, from 2.3 per cent in the first quarter and 2.2 per cent a year earlier. Across the EU, the rate declined to 2.0 per cent from 2.1 per cent in both the first quarter of 2026 and the second quarter of 2025. The euro area rate had stood at 2.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2025 before falling to 2.1 per cent in the third quarter, rising to 2.3 per cent in the fourth quarter and first quarter of 2026, and then returning to 2.1 per cent. The EU rate followed a slightly different pattern, falling from 2.1 per cent in the second quarter of 2025 to 2.0 per cent in the third quarter, before remaining at 2.1 per cent during the fourth quarter of 2025 and first quarter of 2026. It subsequently fell back to 2.0 per cent in the second quarter of 2026, the report showed. Cyprus’ decline was the largest among EU member states, followed by Belgium, where the vacancy rate fell by 0.6 percentage points, Austria with a 0.5 percentage point decline, Estonia with 0.4 percentage points and Italy with 0.3 percentage points. Only three member states recorded increases over the year, with Slovenia’s vacancy rate rising by 0.3 percentage points, Greece’s by 0.2 percentage points and Sweden’s by 0.1 percentage points. The rate remained unchanged in eight member states and declined in 15. Cyprus still above most EU countries Although Cyprus experienced the steepest annual fall, its 2.6 per cent vacancy rate remained among the higher rates recorded across the bloc. The Netherlands had the highest rate at 4.1 per cent, followed by Belgium at 3.3 per cent, Malta at 3.1 per cent and Austria at 2.9 per cent. Cyprus, at 2.6 per cent, remained above the overall EU rate and was also higher than the rates recorded in most member states. At the other end of the scale, Romania recorded the lowest job vacancy rate at 0.5 per cent. Poland and Bulgaria followed at 0.8 per cent each, while Spain and Slovakia both recorded rates of 0.9 per cent. The figures measure the proportion of all posts that are vacant relative to the total number of occupied and vacant posts, providing an indication of the level of unmet demand for labour. Services lead vacancy rates The figures also showed that services continued to have higher vacancy rates than industry and construction across both the euro area and the EU. In the euro area, the vacancy rate was 2.2 per cent in services compared with 2.0 per cent in industry and construction. The corresponding EU rates were 2.1 per cent and 1.8 per cent, the statistical office reported. Across the business economy, construction recorded the highest vacancy rate among the economic activities covered by Eurostat, at 3.0 per cent in the euro area and 2.8 per cent in the EU. Administrative and support service activities, including temporary employment agencies, recorded rates of 2.8 per cent in both areas. Accommodation and food service activities followed with rates of 2.6 per cent in the euro area and 2.5 per cent in the EU. Telecommunication, computer programming, consulting, computing infrastructure and other information service activities recorded vacancy rates of 2.3 per cent in the euro area and 2.2 per cent in the EU. Professional, scientific and technical activities also recorded rates of 2.3 per cent in the euro area and 2.2 per cent in the EU. The latest figures therefore show a clear cooling in labour demand in Cyprus, although the country still has a relatively high proportion of unfilled jobs compared with the European average. The 0.7 percentage point annual fall was also significantly larger than the overall decline recorded across the EU and euro area, suggesting that the exceptionally high level of labour demand seen in Cyprus a year earlier has moderated. At the same time, Cyprus remained well above the rates recorded in countries such as Spain, Slovakia, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania, indicating that employers in the country continued to face a comparatively substantial level of unfilled demand for workers.