The total number of government employees in Cyprus reached 54,884 in October 2024, according to a statistical service report released on Monday.
This figure marks a significant year-on-year increase, largely due to the addition of casual staff in the educational service.
The average employment for January to October 2024 stood at 54,128 people, up by 3.4 per cent (1,784 people) from the same period in 2023.
The increase is primarily attributed to changes within the Education Ministry. The ministry abolished the previous service purchase regime for its support programmes, leading to a direct hiring of casual staff as of the 2023–2024 school year.
Breaking down the October data by sector, the civil service employed 12,045 permanent workers, 4,199 staff on indefinite contracts, 1,219 on fixed-term contracts, and 5,883 hourly paid workers.
Permanent employees made up the majority, accounting for 51.6 per cent, while fixed-term contract employees represented just 5.2 per cent.
In the educational sector, there were 12,396 permanent employees, 996 with indefinite contracts, 4,150 with definite contracts, and 144 hourly paid staff.
Permanent staff accounted for 70.1 per cent of employees, with hourly paid staff making up only 0.8 per cent.
Security forces, meanwhile, were comprised of 8,328 permanent employees, 4,479 on indefinite contracts, 294 on definite contracts, and 751 hourly paid workers.
In this sector, permanent employees comprised 60.1 per cent, and those on definite contracts were the smallest group at 2.1 per cent.
The statistical service explained that government employment includes the civil service, educational service and security forces staff.
The civil service encompasses employees in various ministries, departments, and services.
The educational service includes staff working in school units, as well as personnel from the Cyprus Productivity Centre and the Higher Hotel Institute of Cyprus.
Security forces comprise staff from the police, fire services, and the National Guard.
Across these three categories, employees are classified as permanent, contract-based (either indefinite or definite), and hourly paid (including regular, casual, and seasonal workers).
Members of the House of Representatives are excluded from this data.
