The employment rate of males and females aged 20 to 64 in Cyprus was 72.2% and 64.1% in 2015, Eurostat said in a statement on its website. As a result, Cyprus ranked eleventh from bottom in the EU28. In 2014, respective figures were 71.7% and 63.9%.

The EU average in 2015 was 70.1% in 2015, up from 69.2% the year before, while the percentage of male and females of the said age group in employment was 75.9% and 64.3%, Eurostat said. Greece, Croatia and Italy were the countries with the lowest employment ratios in 2015 with 54.9%, 60.5% and 60.5% respectively, while the highest were in Sweden with 80.5%, Germany with 78% and the UK with 69.9%.

The difference in the percentage of men and women aged 20 to 64 in employment was 8.1% in Cyprus, which was the tenth smallest in the EU, Eurostat said. The smallest difference was recorded in Finland and Lithuania with 2.1% and 2.4% respectively followed by Latvia with 4% while the largest was in Malta, Italy and Greece with 27.8%, 20% and 18% respectively. The average difference in the EU was 11.6%.

The percentage of people aged 54 to 65 in employment was the highest in Sweden, Germany and Denmark last year with 74.5%, 66.2% and 64.7% respectively, Eurostat said. The lowest was in Greece, Slovenia and Luxembourg with 34.3%, 36.6% and 38.4% respectively. The EU average was 53.3% and in Cyprus it was 48.2%.

Source: Cyprus Mail