Women in Cyprus have a life expectancy of 85.6 years, above the World Health Organization’s European Region average of 82.8, according to a new WHO report.
The report also estimates that almost one in three women in Cyprus who have had a partner have experienced violence from a partner, and that 47 per cent of women do not get enough physical activity. Cyprus has a lower death rate from cardiovascular disease than the regional average and is close to the average on several cancers.
The figures come from ‘Core health indicators in the WHO European Region 2026’, published this month and dedicated to the health of women and girls at every stage of life. It covers 53 countries in Europe and central Asia, using the most recent available indicators from different reference years, supplemented where necessary by WHO estimates.
The WHO says significant progress has been made in maternal health over the past two decades, but that women need the same attention, investment and quality of care at every stage of their lives. The report argues that women’s health should be judged not only by how long they live, but by the quality of those years, their safety and their access to appropriate care.
Life expectancy
Women in Cyprus are expected to spend 83 per cent of their lives in good health, against 81.3 per cent for the region as a whole. The WHO notes, however, that longer life does not necessarily mean good health, as a significant part of women’s longer lives may be accompanied by chronic disease, disability or other health limitations.
For men, life expectancy in Cyprus is 81.5 years, compared with a regional average of 77.3.
Violence
The WHO estimates that 31.6 per cent of women in Cyprus who have had a partner have experienced violence from a partner at some point in their lives. The figure refers to lifetime experience, not to incidents that occurred or were reported in 2026.
A separate indicator puts sexual violence by someone other than a partner at 7.4 per cent for Cyprus. The two indicators measure different forms of violence and cannot be added together to give an overall figure.
The WHO treats violence against women as a public health issue, noting that its effects on physical and mental health can last for many years.
Exercise, weight and smoking
An estimated 47 per cent of women in Cyprus did not get enough physical activity in 2022, the most recent reference year for that indicator. The share of women who are overweight or obese is put at 46.5 per cent, based on 2024 data, and 18.9 per cent of women use tobacco products, according to estimates for 2025.
Heart disease and cancer
The age-standardised death rate from cardiovascular disease among women in Cyprus is 78.1 per 100,000, compared with 179.7 per 100,000 for the region.
For cancers of the breast, cervix, uterus and ovaries combined, the age-standardised death rate in Cyprus is 29 per 100,000 women, close to the regional average of 29.6.
The report puts breast cancer incidence in Cyprus at 141.55 cases per 100,000 women and cervical cancer incidence at 6.23 per 100,000. These figures are based on older data from 2015 to 2020 and do not reflect new cases in 2026.
Estimated HPV vaccination coverage among girls aged 9 to 14 in Cyprus is 89 per cent, compared with 38 per cent across the region. Vaccination against HPV is an important measure for preventing cervical cancer, as some types of the virus are causally linked to the disease.
Births
The birth rate among girls aged 15 to 19 in Cyprus is 7.9 per 1,000, compared with 11.7 for the region. The total fertility rate is 1.5 children per woman, slightly below the regional average of 1.6.
