In a shift in North Cyprus’s labour landscape, the number of foreign workers has surpassed that of local employees for the first time, according to recent data from the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.
As of March 2024, the total number of actively insured employees in North Cyprus reached 148,371, marking an all-time high in the proportion of foreign nationals in the workforce. The data reveals a striking composition of the labor force:
* 5 out of 10 insured workers are from North Cyprus
* 3 out of 10 are Turkish citizens
* 2 out of 10 are from other countries
Between November 2022 and March 2024, there was a substantial increase in foreign workers:
* Insured employees with “work permits” rose by 18,785 (34.56%), from 54,355 to 73,140
* In contrast, Turkish Cypriot citizen insured employees increased by only 3.32%, from 72,817 to 75,231
This trend has led to foreign nationals with work permits matching the number of Turkish Cypriot nationals in the insured workforce for the first time in the country’s history.
The demographic shift is particularly noticeable among workers from countries other than Türkiye:
* In early 2020, there were 16,504 workers from third countries, primarily Pakistan, Turkmenistan, and Bangladesh
* By 2022, this number had grown to 18,846
* As of March 2024, it has surged to 31,370
Meanwhile, the number of insured Turkish citizens in the workforce has reached 41,770.
(Source: Gıynık)
