Insurance in Cyprus for expats

If you have come to Cyprus to work, to retire or with your family, the system may be quite different from what you know. This guide brings together the five things people ask most often when they move here.

The public health system (GESY)

The General Healthcare System (GESY) covers a personal doctor, specialists, tests, medicines and hospital care with participating providers. Those entitled include:

• people working in Cyprus as employees or self-employed, whether EU or non-EU citizens;
• residents with a permanent residence permit;
• the dependants of someone who is entitled;
• EU citizens insured in another member state who have registered an S1 form (for example, some pensioners).

GESY contributions are 2.65% of salary or pension and 4% for the self-employed, on income up to €180,000. If you are not entitled to GESY, you need private health insurance for everything.

Private health insurance for your residence permit

For many residence permit applications, the Civil Registry and Migration Department asks for private medical insurance, even if you are registered with GESY. It usually has to include repatriation of remains, because GESY does not cover it. Requirements differ by type of permit and change over time; check the current list of documents before you buy cover.

• Which permit are you applying for, and exactly what does it require?
• Does it need inpatient cover, outpatient cover, or both?
• Is repatriation included?
• Is the insurer’s certificate in a form the Department accepts?

Beyond the permit, a good private plan gives you access to private hospitals and, if you choose, cover in your home country. See the health insurance guide.

Life insurance and your mortgage

If you buy a home with a loan from a Cypriot bank, you will almost certainly be asked for life cover assigned to the bank. If you already hold a life policy in your home country, ask the bank whether it accepts it; a local policy is often simpler. Cover for the loan does not leave your family an income; if someone depends on you, look at that need too with the life cover calculator.

Your pension

If you work in Cyprus, you pay social insurance contributions: 8.8% of salary for employees and 16.6% for the self-employed, up to the maximum insurable earnings (€68,904 a year in 2026). Within the EU, periods of insurance in different countries count together towards your pension rights, and each country pays its own share. Cyprus also has social security agreements with some non-EU countries; ask the Social Insurance Services what applies to yours.

A state pension rarely covers the lifestyle you want, especially if you work here for only a few years. The retirement guide and the retirement savings calculator show you the gap.

Tax

If you pay tax in Cyprus, life insurance premiums are deductible from taxable income up to 7% of the sum insured, and all the related deductions together are capped at one fifth of taxable income. Work out your tax with the income tax calculator.

Frequently asked questions

This guide is general information, not advice. Every policy has its own terms; a recommendation should be based on your own details, goals and commitments.