Over three in five people in Cyprus are of working age

Cyprus had a working-age population of 61.6 per cent on January 1, 2025, placing the country above the European Union average of 58.3 per cent, according to Eurostat. The figures show that people aged between 20 and 64 accounted for more than three-fifths of Cyprus’ population at the start of last year. Cyprus is treated as a single region in the Eurostat breakdown because of its size, rather than being divided into several NUTS level 3 regions. Across the EU as a whole, 58.3 per cent of the population was of working age on January 1, 2025. The share was at least 63.0 per cent in 39 NUTS level 3 regions, with most of these located in Germany. The group also included island regions in Spain as well as several capital regions and surrounding areas. At the top end of the range, more than two-thirds of the population was of working age in the Danish capital region of Byen København, where the figure reached 68.9 per cent. The same proportion was recorded in Spain’s island region of Eivissa y Formentera, while Fuerteventura recorded 68.3 per cent and Lanzarote 67.3 per cent. By contrast, the working-age population accounted for less than 55.0 per cent of the population in 189 EU regions. These areas were predominantly rural, including inland Portugal, large parts of rural France, most of eastern Germany and rural areas in Bulgaria, Greece and the Nordic EU countries. In six regions, fewer than half of the population was of working age. These were Bornholm in Denmark, Creuse and Lot in south-west France, Etelä-Savo in south-east Finland, Arrondissement of Veurne in Belgium and the French outermost region of Mayotte. The figures form part of Eurostat’s regional demographic data and measure the proportion of people aged 20 to 64, rather than the proportion of people who are actually employed. Cyprus’ 61.6 per cent share was 3.3 percentage points above the EU average, although it remained below the highest regional figures recorded across the bloc. The data highlight significant differences in the age structure of European populations, with working-age shares varying considerably between urban, capital, island and predominantly rural regions.