Eurostat figures released on Friday showed that employment in Cyprus’ cultural sector reached 4.3 per cent of total employment in 2025, matching the European Union average.

The data showed that approximately 21,900 people were employed in Cyprus’ cultural sector, comprising 12,400 women and 9,500 men.

Across the European Union, the cultural sector employed 8.9 million people in 2025, equivalent to 4.3 per cent of total employment.

The figures indicate that Cyprus’ share of cultural employment was in line with the EU average, placing the country among a group of member states where the sector accounts for a significant proportion of the labour market.

Across the bloc, almost half of all people employed in culture, 48.5 per cent, were between the ages of 30 and 49, making this the largest age group within the sector.

The gender balance across the EU’s cultural workforce was broadly even, with women accounting for 49.6 per cent of those employed and men representing 50.4 per cent.

Eurostat also found that workers in the cultural sector generally had higher educational attainment than the overall workforce.

Of all people employed in culture across the EU, 6.7 per cent had completed up to lower secondary education, while 31.3 per cent had upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education.

The remaining 61.9 per cent held tertiary qualifications, meaning that nearly two-thirds of people working in the cultural sector had completed higher education.

The report also showed that 17 of the EU’s 27 member states recorded cultural employment representing between 4 per cent and 5 per cent of total employment.

The highest shares of cultural employment were recorded in the Netherlands, where the sector accounted for 5.7 per cent of total employment, followed by Estonia with 5.3 per cent and Malta with 5.1 per cent.

At the other end of the scale, Romania recorded the lowest share at 1.8 per cent, followed by Slovakia with 3.3 per cent and Ireland with 3.4 per cent.