Social insurance & national contributions

Cyprus social insurance is administered by the Social Insurance Services
(under the Ministry of Labour). It's mandatory for everyone working in
Cyprus — employed or self-employed — and the contributions fund pensions,
maternity, sickness, redundancy and unemployment.

EMPLOYED

If you have a Cyprus employer, contributions happen automatically:
· Employee: 8.8% of gross earnings
· Employer: 8.8% (paid alongside other employer contributions like
  redundancy fund 1.2%, social cohesion fund 2%, training levy 0.5%)

There's an upper earnings ceiling adjusted annually (€62,868/year in 2025);
contributions cap above that.

SELF-EMPLOYED

If you set up as self-employed (TIC + register with SIS), you pay 16.6%
on a notional weekly income that's classified by your profession.
Categories run from ~€185/week (entry-level) to €1,000+ (senior
professional). The classification matters — your eventual pension is based
on it.

You must register with SIS within the first month of starting your
self-employed activity.

EU + BILATERAL AGREEMENTS

If you're moving from another EU country, A1 portable certificates can
exempt you from Cyprus contributions for up to 24 months while seconded
from a non-Cyprus employer. Confirm with your home-country social-security
office.

The UK and Cyprus have a bilateral social-security agreement post-Brexit
that recognises pre-2021 contributions for state pension purposes.

WHAT YOU GET

After 156 weeks of contributions: full eligibility for sickness, maternity,
unemployment.
After 7 years: progressive entitlement to old-age pension.
Full pension typically requires 30+ qualifying years.

GeSY contributions (separate, ~2.65–2.7%) are administered alongside but
go to the health system, not pensions.

PRACTICAL ADVICE

Engage an ICPAC accountant before you register self-employed — picking the
right earnings category has long-tail consequences for your pension. They
will also handle the monthly online filings.

OFFICIAL: mlsi.gov.cy/mlsi/sis