Filenews 16 November 2025 - by Charalambos Zakos
Interesting are the data extracted from the data of the Statistical Service on the number of businesses operating in Cyprus and especially on the economic activity of these companies or even individuals who employ individuals.
Analyzing the data, "F" also identified a special fact concerning the activities of households as employers of domestic staff. Specifically, according to the 2023 data, which according to a preliminary check do not differ much compared to 2024 and 2025, about 29.167 households employ close to 24.207 assistants, which although these include chauffeurs, gardeners, however, the vast majority, over 90%, are domestic helpers.
How many funeral homes are there – How many hairdressers
Upon further analysis of the data, there appear to be at least 21 funeral homes operating in Cyprus, employing 84 employees, while hairdressers, barbershops and beauty salons number 4,974, employing over 7,445 people. As far as businesses related to physical wellness are concerned, there are 211 companies operating in Cyprus with over 489 employees.
Over 125,000 businesses in Cyprus
According to the data of the Statistical Service, the number of businesses in Cyprus in 2023 amounted to 125,151, recording an increase of 4.5% compared to 2022.
As we mentioned above, based on an analysis of the data over time, every year there is an increase of close to 5% in the number of businesses, with the sole exception of the period of the coronavirus pandemic, so these numbers are expected to be increased by a few thousand for 2024 and 2025, respectively.
As recorded in the data of Statistics, the largest number of enterprises concerns the sector of Wholesale and Retail Trade, Repair of Motor Vehicles and Motorcycles with 16,773 companies, followed by the sector of Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities and Construction with 13,235 and 10,311 enterprises, respectively.
In terms of the smallest productive sector as a general category, Mines and Quarries have the first place with only 46 enterprises.
Now, in relation to the number of employees, the sector of Wholesale and Retail Trade, Repair of Motor Vehicles and Motorcycles is again the largest sector with 77,046 employees, followed by the sectors of Accommodation and Food Service Activities with 57,041 and Public Administration and Defence, Compulsory Social Security with 55,067.
94.8% of businesses employ up to 10 people
The data show that in 2023, 94.8% of businesses had fewer than 10 employees, while on the other hand, only 156 businesses or just 0.1% employed 250 people or more.
Specifically, 94.8% of businesses employed from 0 to 9 people, with the total number of employees reaching 38.1%.
4.4% of enterprises employed between 10 and 49 people and employed 20.1% of the total, while only 0.7% had between 50-249 employees with 16.5% of the total and 0.1% over 250 people with 25.3% of the total employees.
The change per year
The data concerning the annual change in the number of businesses also reflect the problems that arose for businesses during the pandemic period.
In particular, in 2018 there were 101,323 businesses in Cyprus, while in 2019 there was an increase of 5.7%, reaching 107,056. On the contrary, in 2020 the increase was much smaller, of the order of 1.3% with 108,400 businesses, while in 2021 there is a recovery of 3.8% with 112,486 businesses.
In 2022, the increase in businesses reached 6.5% and 119.816 were recorded, while in 2023 the increase reached 4.5% and reached 125.152.
As we wrote above, according to estimates, in 2024 and 2025 an increase in businesses is expected to be close to 5,000, per year.
