Cyprus preschool participation reaches 89.2 per cent, below EU average and 2030 target

Nicosia, Cyprus. In 2024, 89.2 per cent of children in Cyprus between the age of three and the start of compulsory primary school took part in preschool education, Eurostat data released on Thursday show. The figure trails both the EU average of 94.4 per cent and the European goal of 96 per cent participation by 2030.

Regions meeting the target

Eurostat reported that nearly half of the EU regions with available data had already reached the 96 per cent goal. Of 198 Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) 2 regions with data, 99 had met or passed it.

Such regions were mainly found in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Spain, France, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Portugal and Sweden, where more than half of the regions had hit the target. Luxembourg also reached the 96 per cent rate.

Regions with full participation

Eurostat identified 20 EU regions in which virtually all children from the age of three to the start of compulsory primary education attended preschool. France accounted for nine of them, almost half of the total, and Belgium for another five.

Five capital or metropolitan regions recorded participation of 100 per cent: the Brussels-Capital Region in Belgium, Île-de-France in France, Zagreb in Croatia, Budapest in Hungary and the Warsaw metropolitan area in Poland.

The 100 per cent rate was also recorded in Portugal’s Centro region and in the German regions of Hamburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.