Nicosia: The number of professional firefighters in Cyprus reached 1,200 in 2025, accounting for 0.24% of total employment in the country, according to data published by Eurostat on Monday.
According to Eurostat, the share in Cyprus was higher than the European Union average, where professional firefighters accounted for 0.18% of total employment. Across the European Union, a total of 372,400 professional firefighters were employed in 2025.
Eurostat noted that fire services relied on a younger workforce, with 74.7% of professional firefighters aged under 50, compared with 64.4% of the total employed population in the EU.
Among the 22 EU member states for which data were available, Greece recorded the highest share of professional firefighters as a proportion of total employment, at 0.47%. It was followed by Croatia at 0.43% and Portugal at 0.33%.
By contrast, the lowest shares were recorded in the Netherlands at 0.05%, Austria at 0.07% and Sweden at 0.10%, according to Eurostat data.