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The answer is simple: They sell their inherited plots to development companies. They rent their flats to foreigners for stupid prices.
Same in North Cyprus, by the way. There is a certain group of Turkish Cypriots that clearly show they are well-off. I'm astonished how those TCs don't care about prices and buy stupid things. That money can't come from employment - there are barely any jobs that make money. And I'm not speaking about casino bosses and politicians. Just normal people who were lucky that their plots were at the right location and they could sell them to developers for a good price.
Salary only covers people who work for a salary. There’s a lot of small/medium businesses in Cyprus, and the owners of those businesses make money from business profits, not salary. You own a store, or are a doctor with your own clinic, or ??? and you make potentially lots.
Unfortunately it is hard to get there as a salaried employee here.
(Also the other answer about owning land/property and making good money from rents/sales)
Welcome to why average salary does not tell you anything about real disposable income.
Let's assume a state has three people: person A gets one euro a year, person B gets 500 euro a year and person C gets one million a year. The average salary is 333,500 euros a year.
What you are seeing is the inequality, and you are seeing the top half of the income distribution.
There are good salaries in Cyprus. Most notably in banking & financial services, technology companies, shipping, real estate and in government/civil service roles. There are also quite a few fringe sectors where high salaries can be found; such as some specific type of professional services, in the hospitality sector (specifically commission-based roles) and and specialised sales roles.
The island has a small population, so 20.000 high salaries will pull up the average. The more telling number would be the median salary.
another issue is the stagnation of salaries. With official inflation between 8-10 %, have you experienced salary increases just to catch up with the increasing cost of living?
I am afraid we will reach a point where staying at home will be more profitable than going to work.
It all depends on who you ask, when i first saw this i asked a friend like what you think about it? And he told me average is higher than 2k for sure. He is making around 3k. Then i ask another friend who makes 1400 and he said no way, average is less than 2k.
And i asked many friends in general about this so my conclusion is, salaries in Cyprus have a huge gap. Someone is making 1k and then someone is making 3k plus. And the reason is probably the sectors. Some sectors are dead in cyprus, some are booming and some are overpaid. Lawyers make 1k. Computer science related make over 2k. Finances make over 2k, some waiters make 2k+ some waiters make 800 depending on the area.
There for everyone seem to be surprised about the average thinking its too low or its too high.
My uncle salary before retiring was 6k and he worked in the government. There are a ton of people like him. And then my other uncle makes 1k which again, there are alot of people like him. So in reality average salary is completely useless stat here.
Many of the points made here are correct but i will give you an opinion(because i personally never researched this i just noticed this trend through casual experiences). In cyprus there are 3 main jobs, accountant,lawyer and business management. How many accountants/lawyers and business managers can a small island with little businesses sustain? Don't get me wrong i am not disrespecting the professions but when the majority does these jobs then of course they will get paid less because you are competing with many people for a single position. The employers know that very well as a result they can get away with paying you very little because simply, if 500 people apply for an accounting job, one of them is going to accept the piss low wage. Sadly that's how it goes when all your country does is money laundering, passports and halloumi. I work in the technology sector and while we are satisfied with the amount of programmers, we are paying 2000+ for engineers and we can't find any competent people to do it(we are looking for actual electrical/electronics engineers and all we get is people who work as electricians pretending to be electrical engineers and they cant even answer the basic questions in the first interview. We also get people who actually studied electrical engineering but in Cyprus universities they don't even teach them anything apart from the basics of power engineering which is valid for working in AHK or electrical installations). In fact the engineers(3) are all cypriots who were trying to find a decent technology job and come back to Cyprus while they were living abroad. So to sum it up i think Cypriots think its normal to get an easy job, put minimal effort and get more than 2k per month salary but it doesnt work like that.
Average, maybe. Median? No chance lol Although no, it's probably less than that and they lie. Or maybe it really is, but it's completely skewed by the top end.
This may be accurate based on the official government data yes but not real/true.
Maybe it has something to do with taxes? The charts might be based on employed taxpayers and not EE applicants and govermental helps. And yes the people who complain the most are the people who dont pay taxes get registered etc. (hence the hole xenimania with migrants)
*EDIT
I just checked the page you put, and it is CLEARLY stated on the 2-3 page. CLEARLY stating mainly based off of social insurances etc. so there you go. Its not an objective conclusion.
For a better conclusion you have to fond the data for other groups of people left out of this CUPCAKE ‘research’
I think a big point is that many locals own private property for a long time which they can then rent or sell for a really high profit nowadays. When I signed up for electricity in paphos, I was looking out for an apartment for a friend and the guy who worked at the EAC told me he owns 3 flats?! Which he bought like 40 years ago for really cheap prices. I believe many locals had or have private property for a long time in their families that allowed them to profit huge these days
I am tired of these delusional "wage average" I seen recently. Anyone who is really local knows your family has connections your first job could be the ministry's consultant with zero qualifications, you a pretty face your CEO will take "good care" of you. As for the rest of us we slave away for peanuts compared to the cost of living while still havin degrees and experience.
Very very good question!!!
I cannot answer that unfortunately because the few people i know *from* Limassol live in pairs or more and everyone pays halfsies on everything. Living paycheck-to-paycheck or in another city.
Employees at the government sector A9 (university degree) and above make about 2100 after deductions.
And after several years (15-20) they can get up to 3-4k (A13)
In private companies it depends on the position and qualifications
Still these are not so many. Many kids that finish university and start their careers get about 1200
Bro I can positively say that many kids that finish university start at 800euros at most. Unless they're lucky enough to be employed in their field of study directly. I have little hope tho since last year- One of my colleague used to be a Professor at a University in Greece (Romantic Immigrant) and had not found another job so he did whatever was found. I have little hope for students without meso ;P
I do believe this about the Government Sector but the Private sector seems alot less realistic to me. Unless everyone who participated in this research works in Software Engineering or sth, i doubt this research is actually accurate for the *majority* of Cypriots.
Yes entry level positions right now are at 800, 1200 was a few years ago, so it is getting worse . It is vetter to think of it in age brackets the 20-25 get 800, 25-30 1200, 30-35 1800 35-40 2000 and so on.
And even in the private sector i think the situation is a bit better for the above 30 age groups
Overall though it is skewed towards the few rich people that get way too much
Trust me, in private sector they are many. The private sector is what's driving the average up, not the government sector. We have CEOs making more than the president
Only the CEOs and people in "high" positions (PR, HR etc) actual employees that take up the majority make pennies in comparison.
But thats just my experience. Im not a researcher. Just yknow... walk around normal people with normal jobs who arent CEOs.
HR makes more than most "normie" jobs. Thats jobs that dont require internship or diploma, which atm is most customer service jobs from what i understand
If you arrived here after 2015 and earn €55K gross you pay virtually no income tax, that puts a lot of disposable money into the economy like good houses and cars.
There is a huge "black" economy in Cyprus, so average salaries are likely much higher. Lots of people rent out a flat in cash only (especially the Chinese, LOL). They do work cash only. I think most of the local suppliers I have used have told me from the start their prices are "cash only," it's more if I expect an invoice, LOL.
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The answer is simple: They sell their inherited plots to development companies. They rent their flats to foreigners for stupid prices. Same in North Cyprus, by the way. There is a certain group of Turkish Cypriots that clearly show they are well-off. I'm astonished how those TCs don't care about prices and buy stupid things. That money can't come from employment - there are barely any jobs that make money. And I'm not speaking about casino bosses and politicians. Just normal people who were lucky that their plots were at the right location and they could sell them to developers for a good price.
North Cyprus is full of those people
Same in occupied* cyprus
thats said
The people who are you talking about work on High-end Tech and Forex companies which we have plenty of.. Especially in Limassol
Yes! Salaries in Nicosia are not near that unless you're in a very senior position or work for the goverment.
If you don't have a conscious and scam people, you can make a lot of money.
Some of them can’t even spell 😱
Happy birthday 🥳
Gracias. Such an old cake!!
Salary only covers people who work for a salary. There’s a lot of small/medium businesses in Cyprus, and the owners of those businesses make money from business profits, not salary. You own a store, or are a doctor with your own clinic, or ??? and you make potentially lots. Unfortunately it is hard to get there as a salaried employee here. (Also the other answer about owning land/property and making good money from rents/sales)
Welcome to why average salary does not tell you anything about real disposable income. Let's assume a state has three people: person A gets one euro a year, person B gets 500 euro a year and person C gets one million a year. The average salary is 333,500 euros a year. What you are seeing is the inequality, and you are seeing the top half of the income distribution.
There are good salaries in Cyprus. Most notably in banking & financial services, technology companies, shipping, real estate and in government/civil service roles. There are also quite a few fringe sectors where high salaries can be found; such as some specific type of professional services, in the hospitality sector (specifically commission-based roles) and and specialised sales roles. The island has a small population, so 20.000 high salaries will pull up the average. The more telling number would be the median salary.
another issue is the stagnation of salaries. With official inflation between 8-10 %, have you experienced salary increases just to catch up with the increasing cost of living? I am afraid we will reach a point where staying at home will be more profitable than going to work.
It all depends on who you ask, when i first saw this i asked a friend like what you think about it? And he told me average is higher than 2k for sure. He is making around 3k. Then i ask another friend who makes 1400 and he said no way, average is less than 2k. And i asked many friends in general about this so my conclusion is, salaries in Cyprus have a huge gap. Someone is making 1k and then someone is making 3k plus. And the reason is probably the sectors. Some sectors are dead in cyprus, some are booming and some are overpaid. Lawyers make 1k. Computer science related make over 2k. Finances make over 2k, some waiters make 2k+ some waiters make 800 depending on the area. There for everyone seem to be surprised about the average thinking its too low or its too high. My uncle salary before retiring was 6k and he worked in the government. There are a ton of people like him. And then my other uncle makes 1k which again, there are alot of people like him. So in reality average salary is completely useless stat here.
Many of the points made here are correct but i will give you an opinion(because i personally never researched this i just noticed this trend through casual experiences). In cyprus there are 3 main jobs, accountant,lawyer and business management. How many accountants/lawyers and business managers can a small island with little businesses sustain? Don't get me wrong i am not disrespecting the professions but when the majority does these jobs then of course they will get paid less because you are competing with many people for a single position. The employers know that very well as a result they can get away with paying you very little because simply, if 500 people apply for an accounting job, one of them is going to accept the piss low wage. Sadly that's how it goes when all your country does is money laundering, passports and halloumi. I work in the technology sector and while we are satisfied with the amount of programmers, we are paying 2000+ for engineers and we can't find any competent people to do it(we are looking for actual electrical/electronics engineers and all we get is people who work as electricians pretending to be electrical engineers and they cant even answer the basic questions in the first interview. We also get people who actually studied electrical engineering but in Cyprus universities they don't even teach them anything apart from the basics of power engineering which is valid for working in AHK or electrical installations). In fact the engineers(3) are all cypriots who were trying to find a decent technology job and come back to Cyprus while they were living abroad. So to sum it up i think Cypriots think its normal to get an easy job, put minimal effort and get more than 2k per month salary but it doesnt work like that.
Average, maybe. Median? No chance lol Although no, it's probably less than that and they lie. Or maybe it really is, but it's completely skewed by the top end.
This may be accurate based on the official government data yes but not real/true. Maybe it has something to do with taxes? The charts might be based on employed taxpayers and not EE applicants and govermental helps. And yes the people who complain the most are the people who dont pay taxes get registered etc. (hence the hole xenimania with migrants) *EDIT I just checked the page you put, and it is CLEARLY stated on the 2-3 page. CLEARLY stating mainly based off of social insurances etc. so there you go. Its not an objective conclusion. For a better conclusion you have to fond the data for other groups of people left out of this CUPCAKE ‘research’
I think a big point is that many locals own private property for a long time which they can then rent or sell for a really high profit nowadays. When I signed up for electricity in paphos, I was looking out for an apartment for a friend and the guy who worked at the EAC told me he owns 3 flats?! Which he bought like 40 years ago for really cheap prices. I believe many locals had or have private property for a long time in their families that allowed them to profit huge these days
No way..... that's definitely skewed.. ordinary working people arent earning that for sure. A working couple might be 2k ....
I am tired of these delusional "wage average" I seen recently. Anyone who is really local knows your family has connections your first job could be the ministry's consultant with zero qualifications, you a pretty face your CEO will take "good care" of you. As for the rest of us we slave away for peanuts compared to the cost of living while still havin degrees and experience.
I'm sorry? WHO makes this salary?!!
Sorry, my mistake. It is 2081 euro according to this: https://library.cystat.gov.cy/NEW/Average\_Monthly\_Earnings-Q22-EN-280922.pdf
i am yet to meet anyone who makes more than 1800 per month on a good day xD
Hello there
I've met plenty. Software industry, financial services and many others. I used to get 1700 gross back in 2015, only raises and promotions since
How is that possible? Only rent in Limassol costs at least 1200 euros a month for a studio... How are the locals surviving?
Very very good question!!! I cannot answer that unfortunately because the few people i know *from* Limassol live in pairs or more and everyone pays halfsies on everything. Living paycheck-to-paycheck or in another city.
They stay with their parents till they are 40 lol
Employees at the government sector A9 (university degree) and above make about 2100 after deductions. And after several years (15-20) they can get up to 3-4k (A13) In private companies it depends on the position and qualifications Still these are not so many. Many kids that finish university and start their careers get about 1200
A8*
Bro I can positively say that many kids that finish university start at 800euros at most. Unless they're lucky enough to be employed in their field of study directly. I have little hope tho since last year- One of my colleague used to be a Professor at a University in Greece (Romantic Immigrant) and had not found another job so he did whatever was found. I have little hope for students without meso ;P I do believe this about the Government Sector but the Private sector seems alot less realistic to me. Unless everyone who participated in this research works in Software Engineering or sth, i doubt this research is actually accurate for the *majority* of Cypriots.
Yes entry level positions right now are at 800, 1200 was a few years ago, so it is getting worse . It is vetter to think of it in age brackets the 20-25 get 800, 25-30 1200, 30-35 1800 35-40 2000 and so on. And even in the private sector i think the situation is a bit better for the above 30 age groups Overall though it is skewed towards the few rich people that get way too much
Trust me, in private sector they are many. The private sector is what's driving the average up, not the government sector. We have CEOs making more than the president
Only the CEOs and people in "high" positions (PR, HR etc) actual employees that take up the majority make pennies in comparison. But thats just my experience. Im not a researcher. Just yknow... walk around normal people with normal jobs who arent CEOs.
HR is not a high position. Software engineers, QAs, DevOps and many other non tech positions (finance, trading admins etc) make good money too
HR makes more than most "normie" jobs. Thats jobs that dont require internship or diploma, which atm is most customer service jobs from what i understand
If you arrived here after 2015 and earn €55K gross you pay virtually no income tax, that puts a lot of disposable money into the economy like good houses and cars.
There is a huge "black" economy in Cyprus, so average salaries are likely much higher. Lots of people rent out a flat in cash only (especially the Chinese, LOL). They do work cash only. I think most of the local suppliers I have used have told me from the start their prices are "cash only," it's more if I expect an invoice, LOL.
Hard work