Nicosia: State sector employment recorded a marginal increase in April 2026, with the number of government employees reaching 55,571 people, up by 81 people or 0.1% compared to the same month in 2025.
According to Cyprus News Agency, the largest increase was recorded in the Educational Service, while employment in the Public Service declined and in the Security Forces remained essentially unchanged.
Specifically, total employment in the Educational Service rose by 1.7% to 18,693 people, compared to 18,373 in April 2025. The largest percentage increase was observed among employees with contracts of indefinite duration in the Educational Service, who grew by 24.8%, reaching 1,182 people.
In contrast, employment in the Public Service decreased by 1.0% to 23,122 people. Reductions were recorded in most staff categories, including permanent employees, indefinite-term employees, and hourly-paid staff.
In the Security Forces, the total number of employees remained almost unchanged at 13,756 people. However, there was a significant decrease in fixed-term employees, who fell to just 35 people from 267 in April 2025, marking an 86.9% drop. As clarified, this large reduction is mainly due to the completion and non-renewal of specific fixed-term contracts from July 2025 onwards.
At the level of total state employment, permanent employees increased by 0.3% to 32,949 people, while indefinite-term employees rose by 1.8% to 9,558. On the other hand, fixed-term employees decreased by 2.3% to 6,400 people, while hourly-paid staff saw a marginal decline of 0.5%.
For the period January-April 2026, the average number of government employees increased by 0.2% compared to the corresponding period of 2025, indicating an overall stabilizing trend in public sector employment.