Cyprus has recorded the largest number of bank employees leaving their posts and closures of branches compared to other eurozone countries within the period 2018 – 2022.
Data published on Tuesday by the European Central Bank highlighted the very deep “haircut” of staff and network in the domestic banking system.
But a comparison of 2022 with 2021 also highlights the fact that – in Cyprus – bank managements have taken drastic measures to reduce staff in an effort to cut costs. This is combined with technological advances and digital transformation.
In the eurozone, bank branches declined by 4.3% last year compared to 2021 and by 19.1% compared to 2018.
However, there was a smaller decline in the number of employees in euro area banks in ’22, which was 0.8% compared to 2021 and 9.4% compared to 2018.
In Cyprus, the decrease in branches in 2022 compared to 2021 was 21.53% and staff 19.30%.
In the five-year period 2018 – 2022, banks in the euro area reduced the number of employees by an average of 6.27% and in Cyprus the reduction was 24.36%. Bank branches in the eurozone decreased by 19.16% and in the Cypriot banking system by 47.15%, among the highest in the eurozone.
In absolute terms, bank employees in Cyprus, according to the ECB, were 6,722 in 2022, down from 8,946 in 2018, and branches 204, down from 386 in 2018.
Estonia, with a larger population than Cyprus, has only 64 branches and the number of employees is 5,821. The same is the case with Latvia, with citizens served by 80 branches and the number of bank employees is 5,294.
