Cyprus sees remarkable surge in cultural sector jobs

The latest cultural employment trends are reshaping Cyprus and the European Union. A remarkable surge in Cyprus's cultural sector employment has been identified, outshining all EU members with impressive numbers. This article looks into broader EU trends, reports gender insights, and examines transformative shifts that are reshaping cultural employment.

In the year 2022, Cyprus witnessed a significant boost in its cultural sector employment, as indicated by a report released by Eurostat on Thursday. Around 18,100 individuals found employment within the country's cultural sector, constituting approximately 4% of the total workforce.

This surge in cultural sector employment marked a notable 21.5% increase between the years 2019 and 2022. Impressively, this growth is the most substantial across all European Union member states, a fact highlighted by Eurostat.

Let's look at prior year's employment figures to get a better understanding. In 2021, the cultural sector in Cyprus employed approximately 14,900 people. In the years 2020 and 2019, the figures were 13,200 and 14,000, respectively.

EU-wide trends

Zooming out to the broader European Union context, the cultural sector in 2022 provided jobs for around 7.7 million individuals, equating to approximately 3.8% of the total workforce. This marked a 4.5% increase from the 7.4 million jobs reported in 2021.

Analyzing individual EU member states, a pattern emerged where 19 countries observed an increase in cultural sector employment shares, while 8 reported a decrease. Noteworthy increases were registered in Cyprus (21.5%), Luxembourg (14.5%), Ireland (14.0%), Sweden (11.9%), and the Netherlands (10.5%). In contrast, Bulgaria (-7.7%), Czechia (-7.3%), Croatia (-6.3%), Estonia (-5.3%), and Latvia (-2.5%) witnessed significant decreases in cultural sector employment.

Eurostat's insights

Eurostat's analysis spanning the years 2019 to 2022 showed varying patterns in the annual rates of change. Cyprus stood out with its remarkable transformation, shifting from a -5.7% change in 2019-2020 to an impressive +21.5% in 2021-2022. Luxembourg and Ireland also showcased substantial turnarounds, transitioning from -15.1% to +14.5% and from -3.0% to +14.0% respectively. On the other side, Czechia, Croatia, and Bulgaria experienced notable decreases, shifting from +5.3% to -7.3%, +6.3% to -6.3%, and +4.1% to -7.7% respectively.

Unique trends

Interestingly, among EU countries, only France, Lithuania, and Portugal exhibited an increase in cultural sector employment for both the periods 2019-2020 and 2021-2022. Estonia stood as an exception, experiencing a decline during both timeframes.

Closing the gender gap

Shifting the focus to gender equality, the report showed a significant achievement in 2022. The gender gap in cultural sector employment reached its narrowest point, with a mere 1.6 percentage point difference between men and women. This translates to 3.93 million men and 3.80 million women, constituting 50.8% and 49.2% of the sector's workforce respectively.

Taking a closer look at individual EU nations, 14 countries showcased women surpassing men in cultural sector employment. Leading this trend were Latvia (26.3 percentage point difference), Lithuania (25.7 percentage points), Cyprus (17.1 percentage points), Bulgaria (13.6 percentage points), and Luxembourg (13.3 percentage points). However, some nations still had noticeable gaps, with Malta (21.6 percentage points difference), Spain (9.5 percentage points), Ireland, and Italy (both around 8.5 percentage points) lagging in gender parity within the cultural sector employment.

The shifting cultural employment in Cyprus and the EU shows how things are changing. Cyprus's significant increase and the broader EU trends reveal the sector's growth. The insights about gender differences and the big changes happening underline this transformation. It's an interesting look into the future of cultural employment.