Cyprus recorded the European Union’s sharpest year-on-year decline in the job vacancy rate in the second quarter of 2026, according to Eurostat, signaling an easing in labor demand after a prolonged period of elevated hiring pressure.
Vacancy Rate Falls To 2.6%
The share of unfilled positions in Cyprus fell to 2.6% from 3.3% a year earlier, a 0.7 percentage point decline that was the largest among EU member states.
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The rate stood at 3.0% in the third quarter of 2025 before falling to 2.8% in the fourth quarter. It remained at that level in the first quarter of 2026 and declined again in the latest period.
Gap With EU Average Narrows
Despite the decline, Cyprus remained above both the euro area and EU averages. The euro area vacancy rate stood at 2.1% in the second quarter, while the EU rate was 2.0%.
A year earlier, Cyprus was 1.1 percentage points above the euro area and 1.2 points above the EU. By the second quarter of 2026, those gaps had narrowed to 0.5 and 0.6 percentage points.
The euro area rate fell from 2.3% in the first quarter and 2.2% a year earlier. The EU rate declined from 2.1% in the previous quarter but was unchanged from a year earlier.
Cyprus Leads Annual Declines
Belgium recorded the next-largest annual decline at 0.6 percentage points, followed by Austria at 0.5 points, Estonia at 0.4 and Italy at 0.3.
Only Slovenia, Greece and Sweden recorded increases, at 0.3, 0.2 and 0.1 percentage points respectively. Vacancy rates were unchanged in eight countries and fell in 15.
Cyprus Still Ranks Among Higher-Vacancy Markets
Even after the decline, Cyprus remained among the EU’s higher-vacancy labor markets. The Netherlands had the highest rate at 4.1%, followed by Belgium at 3.3%, Malta at 3.1% and Austria at 2.9%.
Romania recorded the lowest rate at 0.5%, followed by Poland and Bulgaria at 0.8% each. Spain and Slovakia both stood at 0.9%.
Eurostat’s vacancy rate measures unfilled positions as a share of total occupied and vacant posts, providing an indicator of unmet labor demand.
Services Continue To Lead
Services continued to record higher vacancy rates than industry and construction across the EU. In the euro area, the rate was 2.2% in services versus 2.0% in industry and construction, while the EU rates were 2.1% and 1.8%.
Within the business economy, construction recorded the highest rate at 3.0% in the euro area and 2.8% in the EU. Administrative and support services followed at 2.8% in both areas.
Accommodation and food services recorded vacancy rates of 2.6% in the euro area and 2.5% in the EU. Information and communication and professional, scientific and technical activities each stood at 2.3% in the euro area and 2.2% in the EU.
Labour Demand Is Cooling, But Remains Elevated
The latest figures point to a clear cooling in Cyprus’ labor demand rather than a broad-based collapse. The 0.7 percentage point annual decline was considerably larger than the easing across the EU and euro area.
Yet Cyprus remains above most of the bloc, indicating that employers continue to face a relatively high number of unfilled positions.
