Cyprus employers faced higher wage bills in the second quarter of 2026, with hourly labour costs rising by 3.8 per cent year on year, according to provisional data released by the statistical service (Cystat) on Tuesday.

The increase was slightly stronger than in the first quarter, when labour costs had risen by 3.4 per cent compared with a year earlier, showing a further pick-up in the cost of employing workers. It was also marginally above the 3.7 per cent annual increase recorded in the second quarter of 2025.

The rise was driven by both parts of employers’ labour costs. Wages and salaries per hour worked increased by 3.9 per cent from the second quarter of 2025, while non-wage costs rose by 3.6 per cent.

Wage growth also accelerated from the first quarter, when the annual increase stood at 3.4 per cent. Non-wage costs, meanwhile, picked up from 3 per cent in the first three months of the year.

The unadjusted total labour cost index reached 121.87 in the second quarter, up from 119.43 in the previous three months and 117.38 a year earlier.

The index for wages and salaries rose to 122.20, compared with 119.79 in the first quarter and 117.64 in the same period last year. The corresponding non-wage cost index stood at 120.48, up from 117.92 in the first quarter and 116.33 a year earlier. The indices use 2020 as their reference year, set at 100.

Compared with the previous quarter, and after seasonal adjustment, total hourly labour costs increased by 1 per cent. Wages and salaries also rose by 1 per cent quarter on quarter, while non-wage costs increased by 0.9 per cent.

Finally, that quarterly increase was stronger than in the second quarter of 2025, when seasonally adjusted total labour costs and wages and salaries had each risen by 0.6 per cent from the previous quarter, while non-wage costs had increased by 0.5 per cent.