Cyprus records EU’s lowest salary disclosure rate in job adverts at 0.4 per cent

Nicosia, Cyprus. Just 0.4 per cent of job adverts in Cyprus included salary details in August, the lowest proportion recorded in the EU, according to research by compensation benchmarking platform TalentUp and Esperta Pay, a compensation and pay transparency practice.

EU disclosure increased after deadline

The study examined 1,194,497 vacancy advertisements across all 27 EU countries from May through August 2026. That period spanned the June 7 deadline for incorporating the EU Pay Transparency Directive into domestic legislation.

According to the analysis, the EU-wide share of adverts providing pay information climbed from 10.5 per cent in May to 15 per cent in June, then 20.7 per cent in July and 22.8 per cent in August. The August figure was more than double the May level.

The report found that the rise followed the June 7 transposition deadline, rather than occurring during the preceding weeks. Despite that increase, over three-quarters of advertisements across the bloc still omitted salary details at the close of the period, reflecting uneven progress towards pay transparency across Europe.

National rules determine how pay is disclosed

Under the directive, employers must give applicants information about starting pay or the applicable salary range before negotiations over remuneration begin. Employers are also barred from asking applicants about past earnings.

However, the report noted that individual member states decide how to implement the requirements domestically. As a result, the directive does not automatically mean every vacancy advertisement must carry salary information.

Italy’s disclosure rate more than triples

The analysis identified Italy as a country that transposed the directive within the deadline and adopted the more visible option of placing salary details in vacancy adverts.

Its disclosure rate increased from 13.4 per cent in May to 45.9 per cent in August, the report found. This represented more than a threefold rise and put Italy at approximately twice the EU average.