In 2023, 13.8% of young people aged 15 to 29 in Cyprus (compared to an EU average of 11.2%) were neither in education or training nor in employment, according to data released by Eurostat.

Cyprus had the fifth-highest share in the EU, following Romania, Italy, Greece, and Bulgaria. Despite this, the rate continued to show a steady decline, paralleling the trend observed across the rest of the EU.

This percentage marks a decrease of 0.9 percentage points (pp) compared to 2022, while the EU average saw a reduction of 0.5 pp.

Over the last decade, there has been a notable decline in the percentage of individuals aged 15 to 29 in the EU who are not in education, employment, or training. From 16.1% in 2013, the rate has steadily decreased, with the exception of the pandemic year 2020, when it rose (from 12.6% in 2019 to 13.8% in 2020), before declining slightly again to 13.1% in 2021.

Cyprus also recorded a significant reduction during the same period, with the rate at 20.4% in 2013. In Cyprus, there was an increase in 2020 (to 15.3% from 14.1% in 2019) and in 2021 (to 15.4%), before dropping again to 14.7% in 2022.

In 2023, the lowest rate among EU member states was recorded in the Netherlands (4.8%), while the highest was in Romania (19.3%).

The EU has set a target through the European Pillar of Social Rights to reduce this rate to at least 9% by 2030. In 2023, one-third of the member states had achieved this goal: the Netherlands (4.8%), Sweden (5.7%), Malta (7.5%), Slovenia (7.8%), Luxembourg (8.5%), Ireland (8.5%), Denmark (8.6%), Germany (8.8%), and Portugal (8.9%).

Additionally, most EU countries recorded differences between the rates for teenage and young women and men. In 2023, 12.5% of young women aged 15-29 in the EU were neither in education nor employment, compared to 10.1% of young men.

The lowest rates for both young men and women were recorded in the Netherlands: 4.0% for young men and 5.6% for young women.

In Cyprus, the rate of young women outside the labor market and education was higher than that of young men (14.8% versus 12.7%).

The highest rate among young men was recorded in Greece (14.8%) and the highest for women in Romania (24.8%).

The share of young women was lower than that of young men only in Estonia (8.9% versus 10.2%) and Belgium (9.5% versus 9.8%), while Portugal, Spain, Finland, and Sweden recorded approximately equal shares between the two genders.