Cyprus has once again emerged as Europe’s most digitally engaged nation among young people. According to new EU data for 2025, almost every Cypriot aged 16 to 29 used social media last year, underscoring the island’s position as one of the bloc’s most connected societies.
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Cyprus Tops EU Youth Social Media Use
Official European statistics show that 98.3% of young Cypriots accessed social networks in 2025, the highest share in the European Union. Cyprus ranked ahead of Czechia (97.2%), Denmark (96.9%), and Finland (96.6%). Across the EU, an average of 89.3% of 16–29-year-olds reported using social media, compared with 67.3% of the general population.
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For brokers, this data means Cyprus is a very good place to run an online trading business. Young people in Cyprus use social networks almost all the time, so they already feel comfortable with apps, online accounts, and digital payments.
Additionally, Cyprus recorded one of the smallest gaps between young and older users. The difference in social media activity between youth and the broader Cypriot population stood at 11.8 percentage points, showing that people of all ages in Cyprus are relatively active online.
Large Gaps Seen Elsewhere in the EU
Other EU countries showed wider generational divides. Croatia had a 29.2-point gap, followed by Austria with 28.2 points and Poland with 27.2 points. In these nations, social networks remain far more popular among young people than among older citizens.
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By contrast, smaller gaps appeared in Denmark, Malta, and Cyprus, where digital engagement is widespread across society. The figures underline how Cyprus continues to stand out for its strong online culture, a trend that parallels its growing role as a base for online-based industries, including fintech and CFD trading.
Regulator’s Concerns
Interestingly, CySEC recently warned that smartphones and mobile apps now make it much easier for young investors to take risks and end up in speculative products they do not fully understand.
In a piece for Eurofi Magazine tied to the Nicosia 2026 Eurofi seminar, Vice Chairman, Panikkos Vakkou, urged the EU’s Savings and Investment Union to ban the gamification of investing and called for clear disclosure on how firms earn money and where their incentives may clash with clients’ interests.
Vakkou’s warning follows CySEC’s 2022 investor protection campaign, which targeted trading “gamification” and the rising influence of finfluencers on social media.
At the time, the regulator said it was concerned about young, inexperienced investors being steered into complex, high‑risk products by aggressive online marketing and social media promotion, and it urged retail clients not to base decisions on emotions or social pressure.
ESMA data shows that cross-border investing in the EU is growing fast, with about 10.5 million retail clients using services from firms based in other member states in 2024, up 32% from 8 million a year earlier.
At the same time, the number of active providers fell to 370 firms across 30 EU/EEA countries, a 4% drop, meaning each firm now serves more clients on average, around 28,000 versus 20,000 in 2023. Cyprus-regulated brokers alone handle roughly one in three of these traders as complaints about cross-border services jumped by 46% to nearly 11,000 cases.
