Cyprus state employment reaches 55,367 people in March

Total state employment in Cyprus reached 55,367 people in March 2026, marking a marginal increase of 42 employees compared with the same month last year, according to the state statistical service (Cystat).

This represents an annual rise of 0.1 per cent in the state workforce, while the average total number of state employees for the January-March 2026 period increased by 0.2 per cent compared with the corresponding period of 2025.

Across the main branches of the state, employment in the civil service fell by 0.8 per cent to 23,013 people, down from 23,198 in March 2025.

Staffing in the security forces also declined, falling by 0.7 per cent to 13,734 from 13,832 a year earlier.  

By contrast, the educational service continued to expand, with total employment rising by 1.8 per cent to 18,620 from 18,295. 

Looking at employment categories across the total state workforce, the largest increase was recorded among employees with contracts of indefinite duration, whose numbers rose by 1.7 per cent to 9,617.  

Permanent employees edged up by 0.1 per cent to 32,900. By contrast, employees with contracts of definite duration fell by 2 per cent to 6,318, while hourly paid workers declined by 0.3 per cent to 6,532. 

In the civil service, permanent employees stood at 11,934 in March 2026, slightly down by 0.1 per cent from 11,951 a year earlier.  

Employees with contracts of indefinite duration fell by 3.1 per cent to 4,030, while staff on definite duration contracts rose by 0.5 per cent to 1,437. Hourly paid workers dropped by 0.8 per cent to 5,612. 

In the educational service, permanent employees were broadly stable at 12,446, down 0.1 per cent from 12,462 in March 2025.  

Employees with contracts of indefinite duration rose sharply by 24.9 per cent to 1,184, the largest percentage increase recorded across all services and categories. Employees with contracts of definite duration increased by 2.1 per cent to 4,843, while hourly paid workers rose by 5 per cent to 147. 

In the security forces, permanent staff increased by 0.7 per cent to 8,520, while employees with contracts of indefinite duration rose by 1.3 per cent to 4,403.  

Hourly paid workers also increased, up 2.7 per cent to 773.  

However, employees with contracts of definite duration plunged by 85.9 per cent to just 38 people from 269 a year earlier.

According to Cystat, that steep decline in the security forces was mainly due to the completion and non-renewal of specific definite duration contracts in July 2025. 

The year-to-date figures also point to a mixed picture across services. For the January-March 2026 period, average employment in the civil service declined by 0.9 per cent, while the educational service posted a 1.9 per cent increase and the security forces recorded a 0.2 per cent decrease.

Over the same period, total permanent employees rose by 0.2 per cent, employees with contracts of indefinite duration increased by 1.6 per cent, while employees with contracts of definite duration and hourly paid workers fell by 1.2 per cent and 0.4 per cent respectively. 

Within the year-to-date breakdown, the strongest increase remained among employees with contracts of indefinite duration in the educational service, up 24.8 per cent, while the sharpest drop again concerned employees with contracts of definite duration in the security forces, down 85.9 per cent. 

In the civil service, employees with contracts of definite duration rose by 3 per cent over the first three months of the year, while in the educational service the same category rose by 2.5 per cent. 

Cystat also noted that, as of March 2026, the term “government” has been replaced by “state employees” for greater accuracy, without affecting the methodology or comparability of the data over time.