CITY / CITYVerified city comparison
HeraklionvsLimassol.
Heraklion is stronger on 6 of 8 headline facts; Limassol on 1. Cost of living (single, excl. rent): Heraklion $766/mo, Limassol $970/mo. Freelancer tax burden: Heraklion 30.9%, Limassol 26.5%. Climate comfort: Heraklion 10/12 mo, Limassol 6/12 mo.
VerifiedUpdated
14 compared criteria · 28 sources · country-level facts are clearly inherited
gr / cy · SettleMetric
01
The key differences
The key numbers head-to-head — the stronger side is marked. The overall score stays decoration; what matters is which facts fit you.
Headline result
Heraklion leads on 6 of 8
Heraklion
6
Limassol
1
01Cost of living (single, excl. rent)
Heraklionstronger
$766/mo
ELSTAT — Household Budget Survey 2023
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- ELSTAT HBS 2023: average annual expenditure per person = €8,358.24 = €696.52/month (monetary purchases, excludes imputed owner rent). Subtracted the actual-rent component (~€24.6/person) → €671.9/person excl. rent × 1.1399 = $766. Same low-reading per-capita HBS basis as peers.
- Notes
- Greek monetary household consumption is genuinely depressed (ELSTAT reports it ~20.5% below 2008), so the per-capita figure lands near Czechia despite Greece feeling pricier in tourist zones. Rent shown separately.
Limassol
$970/mo
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 4, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- CYSTAT HBS 2023 gives mean annual consumption €43,263 per household (avg 2.6 persons, government-controlled area). A single-person, rent-excluded basket matching the criterion (food, transport, utilities, mobile+internet, modest leisure, personal care, out-of-pocket health) was built from the COICOP categories: food 6,254 + transport 5,004 + utilities (30% of the 11,884 housing category ≈ 3,565) + info&comm 1,468 + recreation 1,870 + half of restaurants (2,389) + personal care 2,075 + half of health (1,093) = ≈23,717/household/yr; ÷2.6 persons ×1.12 single-person economies-of-scale uplift = €851/mo; × ECB EUR/USD 1.1399 (2026-07-02) = ≈$970. Rent and imputed rent excluded. This is a curated estimate — CYSTAT does not publish a one-person-household table in the summary release, and housing utilities were split from rent using the ~30% ratio implied by Eurostat HICP weights for Cyprus.
02Freelancer tax burden
Heraklion
30.9%
SettleMetric tax engine over official 2026 rules (Law 5246/2025 income-tax scale + e-EFKA Class 1)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Standard freelancer scheme at €60,000, single (scheme gr-freelancer-standard): EFKA Class 1 = 3,006/yr (deductible); income tax on 56,994 via the 2026 scale (9/20/26/34/39%) = 15,528. Levies 18,534 → 30.9%. NOTE: a relocating new tax resident gets the 50% income-tax exemption (Article 5C, scheme gr-freelancer-newresident-50) for 7 years, cutting this to ≈13.5% — but the 30.9% standard figure is the unconditional, steady-state burden shown as the headline.
Limassolstronger
26.5%
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Best (and only) eligible self-employed scheme cy-self-employed-pit at €60,000 revenue with 10% deductible expenses (profit €54,000): social insurance 16.6% × 54,000 = 8,964; GHS 4% × 54,000 = 2,160; both deducted from the PIT base → chargeable 42,876; PIT on the 2026 bands (tax-free to 22,000; 20% 22–32k = 2,000; 25% 32–42k = 2,500; 30% on 876 = 262.80) = 4,762.80. Total levies 15,886.80 ÷ 60,000 = 26.5%. Non-dom status and the 50% first-employment exemption do not reduce self-employment trading income. Note: if the Income Tax Law Art.14 1/5 (20%) cap on the deductibility of contributions is applied strictly, the burden rises to ~27.7%; the full-deduction figure (common practitioner treatment) is used here.
03Homicide rate
Heraklionstronger
0.78/100k
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB, geo=EL)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (0.78). Very low by global standards (world average ~5.8) and down over the series (1.29 in 2008 to 0.68–0.88 recently). One of the safer countries in the set.
Limassol
0.93/100k
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (ICCS0101, per 100k)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Notes
- 2024 = 0.93 per 100,000 (latest year). Small-population volatility: the series swings year to year (2022: 0.77; 2023: 1.05; 2024: 0.93). Covers the government-controlled area.
04Climate comfort
Heraklionstronger
10/12 mo
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals (NOAA GSOD 1991–2020, Heraklion Airport)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Months whose mean daily maximum is between 15 and 28 °C AND whose monthly precipitation is under 150 mm: Jan (15.3), Feb (15.6), Mar (17.4), Apr (20.3), May (23.9), Jun (27.5), Sep (27.3), Oct (24.2), Nov (20.4), Dec (16.9) = 10. Only July and August are excluded, both at 29.4 °C. The precipitation test excludes nothing: the wettest month is January at 90.2 mm.
- Notes
- Ten sits at the top of this dataset’s range: Lisbon and Los Angeles also reach ten, and only Bogotá, Las Palmas, Mexico City and Funchal reach twelve. The count rewards a winter that never gets cold rather than a gentle summer — January and February qualify here purely because their daily maxima sit just above the 15 °C floor.
Limassol
6/12 mo
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals (Larnaka Airport WMO 17609 proxy)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Months with mean daily maximum 15–28°C and precipitation < 150 mm: Jan (17.1), Feb (17.5), Mar (19.9), Apr (23.0), May (27.0), Nov (23.3) = 6. Oct just misses (28.3°C > 28); Jun–Sep exceed 28°C (peak-summer heat). Computed from the proxy Larnaka normals; the raw normals are stored alongside so users can judge by their own taste.
- Notes
- Computed from the Larnaka Airport proxy station (see climate-normals notes). Limassol's own summer maxima are similar; a Mediterranean coastal city — the 'pleasant' months cluster in spring and autumn, with hot dry mid-summers and mild wet winters.
05Internet speed
Heraklionstronger
37 Mbps
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Greece
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 343 daily country-median download values for GR in 2023 = 37.3 Mbps (268,076 download tests; daily medians ranged 21.3–47.3). M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads below Ookla-style tests — comparable only within this criterion. 2023 is the latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API.
- Notes
- Greece's fixed broadband is improving as fibre rolls out; the single-stream M-Lab median is used only for cross-country comparability on one consistent method.
Limassol
17 Mbps
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Cyprus
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Median of 343 daily country-level download medians (download_MED) for 2023 — the latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API (2024 has only ~86 days; 2025/2026 not yet published).
- Notes
- M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads well below Ookla-style figures — comparable only within this criterion. Cyprus fixed broadband is largely VDSL/FTTH; real retail speeds are much higher than this test-based median.
06English proficiency
Heraklion
High
EF EPI 2025 — Greece (score 592, rank 20/123, High band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): Greece scores 592, rank 20/123 — top of the 'High' band, just below the 'Very High' threshold (~600); global average 488. English is widely functional in tourism, services and among younger Greeks, though the score slipped 10 points from the prior edition.
Limassol
High
EF EPI 2025 (Cyprus rank 40, score 537 — 'Moderate' band) + official language/service-sector reality
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Notes
- Our band 'high'. English is very widely usable in daily life across Cyprus — a former British colony where English is common in business, tourism, banking, private healthcare and among the large expat community, and is widely taught. We place it one band above EF EPI's 2025 'Moderate' (score 537, dropped 21 points from 2024) because EF measures adult test-takers rather than the service-sector prevalence a resident actually encounters; government paperwork is primarily in Greek. Attribution: EF Education First.
07Private healthcare cost
Heraklionstronger
$1,368/yr
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 15, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Midpoint of local comprehensive (inpatient + outpatient) annual premiums for a healthy 35-year-old, €600–1,800 from major Greek insurers (mid-range €100–180/month) → ~€1,200/yr × 1.1399 = $1,368.
- Notes
- Public cover exists via EOPYY (funded through EFKA contributions), but waiting lists and gaps drive a large private market. Local plans run cheaper than international/expat plans ($2,000–4,000+/yr). Greek insurers raised premiums ~14% in 2025 — a rising curated midpoint, not a firm quote.
Limassol
$1,370/yr
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 4, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Comprehensive plans covering BOTH inpatient and outpatient care for a healthy 35-year-old (e.g. top-tier plans from Eurolife/Medica, TruCare, Bupa Global local) run ≈ €80–150/month ≈ €960–1,800/yr; healthy-35 midpoint ≈ €1,200/yr ≈ $1,370 at 1.1399 EUR/USD. Chosen on the with-inpatient comprehensive basis to be comparable across countries. Premiums are quoted on request (insurers do not publish full tables), so this is a curated market midpoint, not an engine quote. Cheaper inpatient-only or outpatient-only plans exist (≈ €500–720/yr). Residents are also covered by the public GHS/GeSY.
08Air quality (PM2.5)
Heraklionstronger
11.7 µg/m³
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Row Irakleio/GRC, year 2024, of the WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026): pm25_concentration = 11.66 µg/m³ at 99% temporal coverage over 1 station, reference "European Environmental Agency". Cross-checked against the EEA statistic it is built from, queried directly on 2026-09-20: station GR0433A HERAKLION-2, urban traffic, annual mean 11.663023 µg/m³, data coverage 98.95%, verification flag 1 (validated). The row’s station sits at 35.3328°N 25.1382°E, 0.9 km from this city’s recorded coordinates. Reference year 2024 is the latest year with a full-year figure and the year already used by the other European cities here; the database also carries 2025 at 10.97 µg/m³, but on 56% coverage, far below the EU’s 90% data-quality objective, so it is reported here rather than used.
- Notes
- ONE station, and an urban traffic one, so this reads high relative to where people actually live — Heraklion has no urban background PM2.5 monitor. For scale, the nearest background site, Finokalia on the coast 48 km east, measured 7.08 µg/m³ in the same year, and the whole Greek network reported between 7.08 and 24.51. Preceding year in the same series: 2023, 13.30 µg/m³ at 88% coverage. Even on the traffic station the figure is well under the EU limit value of 25 and the lowest of the three Greek cities here — Athens 14.2 (a five-station average) and Thessaloniki 16.11 (six stations, four of them traffic) for the same year.
Limassol
16 µg/m³
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- Row Lemesos/CYP, year 2024, of the WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026), read from the published spreadsheet on 2026-08-28: pm25_concentration = 16 µg/m³ at 100% temporal coverage over 1 station (a single urban background station), reference "European Environmental Agency", WHO footprint population 189,600. Reference year 2024 — the latest year this database carries a full-year PM2.5 figure for this city, and the year already used by the other European cities in this dataset. Identity checked against the row's own station centroid, which lies 2.9 km from this city's recorded coordinates — the file contains near-miss names such as "Playa Del Ingles/ESP" and "Porto Empedocle/ITA", so the check is not a formality.
- Notes
- One station, so this is a point measurement rather than a city aggregate — but it is an urban background station, the right type for representing general exposure, and it has run at 100% coverage for twelve straight years. The trend is the thing to note: 12.52 µg/m³ in 2020 rising steadily to 16 in 2024. WHO records the footprint population as 189,600, well above the 107,970 municipal figure recorded on this page, so the row describes the wider urban area. Preceding years in the same series: 2019 13.27, 2020 12.52, 2021 13.36, 2022 14.07, 2023 15.95 — all at 100% coverage.
02
Which city fits your plan?
Each lens weighs only the facts that matter to that plan, and names the side it favours.
Remote IT / freelancer
Contract or freelance in tech, billing clients abroad.
Heraklion fits better — 2 of 5
01Freelancer tax burden
Heraklion
30.9%
SettleMetric tax engine over official 2026 rules (Law 5246/2025 income-tax scale + e-EFKA Class 1)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Standard freelancer scheme at €60,000, single (scheme gr-freelancer-standard): EFKA Class 1 = 3,006/yr (deductible); income tax on 56,994 via the 2026 scale (9/20/26/34/39%) = 15,528. Levies 18,534 → 30.9%. NOTE: a relocating new tax resident gets the 50% income-tax exemption (Article 5C, scheme gr-freelancer-newresident-50) for 7 years, cutting this to ≈13.5% — but the 30.9% standard figure is the unconditional, steady-state burden shown as the headline.
Limassolstronger
26.5%
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Best (and only) eligible self-employed scheme cy-self-employed-pit at €60,000 revenue with 10% deductible expenses (profit €54,000): social insurance 16.6% × 54,000 = 8,964; GHS 4% × 54,000 = 2,160; both deducted from the PIT base → chargeable 42,876; PIT on the 2026 bands (tax-free to 22,000; 20% 22–32k = 2,000; 25% 32–42k = 2,500; 30% on 876 = 262.80) = 4,762.80. Total levies 15,886.80 ÷ 60,000 = 26.5%. Non-dom status and the 50% first-employment exemption do not reduce self-employment trading income. Note: if the Income Tax Law Art.14 1/5 (20%) cap on the deductibility of contributions is applied strictly, the burden rises to ~27.7%; the full-deduction figure (common practitioner treatment) is used here.
02Internet speed
Heraklionstronger
37 Mbps
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Greece
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 343 daily country-median download values for GR in 2023 = 37.3 Mbps (268,076 download tests; daily medians ranged 21.3–47.3). M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads below Ookla-style tests — comparable only within this criterion. 2023 is the latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API.
- Notes
- Greece's fixed broadband is improving as fibre rolls out; the single-stream M-Lab median is used only for cross-country comparability on one consistent method.
Limassol
17 Mbps
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Cyprus
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Median of 343 daily country-level download medians (download_MED) for 2023 — the latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API (2024 has only ~86 days; 2025/2026 not yet published).
- Notes
- M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads well below Ookla-style figures — comparable only within this criterion. Cyprus fixed broadband is largely VDSL/FTTH; real retail speeds are much higher than this test-based median.
03English proficiency
Heraklion
High
EF EPI 2025 — Greece (score 592, rank 20/123, High band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): Greece scores 592, rank 20/123 — top of the 'High' band, just below the 'Very High' threshold (~600); global average 488. English is widely functional in tourism, services and among younger Greeks, though the score slipped 10 points from the prior edition.
Limassol
High
EF EPI 2025 (Cyprus rank 40, score 537 — 'Moderate' band) + official language/service-sector reality
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Notes
- Our band 'high'. English is very widely usable in daily life across Cyprus — a former British colony where English is common in business, tourism, banking, private healthcare and among the large expat community, and is widely taught. We place it one band above EF EPI's 2025 'Moderate' (score 537, dropped 21 points from 2024) because EF measures adult test-takers rather than the service-sector prevalence a resident actually encounters; government paperwork is primarily in Greek. Attribution: EF Education First.
04Cost of living (single, excl. rent)
Heraklionstronger
$766/mo
ELSTAT — Household Budget Survey 2023
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- ELSTAT HBS 2023: average annual expenditure per person = €8,358.24 = €696.52/month (monetary purchases, excludes imputed owner rent). Subtracted the actual-rent component (~€24.6/person) → €671.9/person excl. rent × 1.1399 = $766. Same low-reading per-capita HBS basis as peers.
- Notes
- Greek monetary household consumption is genuinely depressed (ELSTAT reports it ~20.5% below 2008), so the per-capita figure lands near Czechia despite Greece feeling pricier in tourist zones. Rent shown separately.
Limassol
$970/mo
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 4, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- CYSTAT HBS 2023 gives mean annual consumption €43,263 per household (avg 2.6 persons, government-controlled area). A single-person, rent-excluded basket matching the criterion (food, transport, utilities, mobile+internet, modest leisure, personal care, out-of-pocket health) was built from the COICOP categories: food 6,254 + transport 5,004 + utilities (30% of the 11,884 housing category ≈ 3,565) + info&comm 1,468 + recreation 1,870 + half of restaurants (2,389) + personal care 2,075 + half of health (1,093) = ≈23,717/household/yr; ÷2.6 persons ×1.12 single-person economies-of-scale uplift = €851/mo; × ECB EUR/USD 1.1399 (2026-07-02) = ≈$970. Rent and imputed rent excluded. This is a curated estimate — CYSTAT does not publish a one-person-household table in the summary release, and housing utilities were split from rent using the ~30% ratio implied by Eurostat HICP weights for Cyprus.
05Domestic delivery quality
Heraklion
Good
Greek carrier networks (ELTA, ACS, BoxNow) — composite
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 15, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Dense mainland-city coverage: national couriers (ELTA post, ACS, Geniki Taxydromiki, Speedex) plus one of SE Europe's largest parcel-locker networks (BoxNow) and Skroutz Last Mile; cash-on-delivery ('αντικαταβολή') is mainstream. Athens/Thessaloniki are excellent, but ELTA's financial troubles and ferry-dependent island last-mile keep the national rating at 'good' rather than 'excellent'.
Limassol
Good
Cyprus Post (national operator) + ACS Courier / DHL (largest domestic carrier) official pages
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 4, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Classified from the national postal operator's and the largest private courier's official service/coverage data: Cyprus Post (~51 service points, EMS, tracking) plus ACS Courier (largest domestic courier, DHL's exclusive Cyprus parcel partner, cash-on-delivery, Saturday delivery) and DHL/UPS/FedEx cover the whole government-controlled area. Typically 1–3 day to-door delivery with tracking and common cash-on-delivery, but parcel-locker density is low compared with locker-first markets → 'good' rather than 'excellent'.
- Notes
- Small-island logistics; government-controlled area.
Family
Relocating with a partner and school-age children.
Heraklion fits better — 3 of 5
01International schools
Heraklion
1
Official source
- Data as of
- Sep 20, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Accreditor-verified: the School of European Education – Heraklion (A. Nioti and Savathianon 8, seeh.eu) is listed on the European Schools registry as accredited to teach the European Schools curriculum from nursery to the European Baccalaureate, English and Greek language sections, first Baccalaureate session 2015. It is the only Accredited European School in Greece, one of the 24 locations on that registry, and was set up around the EU agency ENISA, which the registry names as its linked agency.
- Notes
- VERIFIED FLOOR. The IB World Schools directory (ibo.org) has refused our requests since the Polish work in August 2026 and the Internet Archive holds no snapshot of its country listings, so any IB-authorised school in Heraklion could not be counted or ruled out — the same blocked check that leaves thirteen other published cities in this dataset without a count. Heraklion is unusual in that one accredited school could be confirmed at a different registry, so it carries a number rather than a gap; treat it as "at least one", not as a complete count.
Limassolstronger
3
IB World Schools records + AEFE network directory (accreditor registries)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 4, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Count of Limassol schools verified against an accreditor's own registry: (1) The Island Private School of Limassol — IB World School, IB record 063078, the only full IB Continuum (PYP/MYP/DP/CP) school in Cyprus; (2) PASCAL Private Secondary School Lemesos — authorised as an IB World School offering the IB Diploma Programme from September 2025 (confirmed on PASCAL's official site and Cyprus Mail 2025-07-02); (3) École franco-chypriote — Limassol annex, homologué in the AEFE network (aefe.gouv.fr directory, 'École franco-chypriote de Nicosie et son annexe de Limassol').
- Notes
- CONSERVATIVE, registry-verified count = 3 (2 IB + 1 AEFE French). Limassol additionally has several Cambridge-International British-curriculum private schools (e.g. Foley's, Logos School of English Education, Heritage, Silverline, The Grammar School, American Academy) offering IGCSE/A-Level; the criterion allows Cambridge accreditation, but the Cambridge 'Find a Cambridge school' registry and the IB school finder were both bot-protected (Algolia / Cloudflare) and could not be queried per-school this cycle, so those are NOT included to avoid an unverified count. True figure is materially higher (aggregator listings show ~13 English-medium international schools in Limassol) — re-verify the Cambridge registry manually to raise the count.
02Homicide rate
Heraklionstronger
0.78/100k
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB, geo=EL)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (0.78). Very low by global standards (world average ~5.8) and down over the series (1.29 in 2008 to 0.68–0.88 recently). One of the safer countries in the set.
Limassol
0.93/100k
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (ICCS0101, per 100k)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Notes
- 2024 = 0.93 per 100,000 (latest year). Small-population volatility: the series swings year to year (2022: 0.77; 2023: 1.05; 2024: 0.93). Covers the government-controlled area.
03Private healthcare cost
Heraklionstronger
$1,368/yr
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 15, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Midpoint of local comprehensive (inpatient + outpatient) annual premiums for a healthy 35-year-old, €600–1,800 from major Greek insurers (mid-range €100–180/month) → ~€1,200/yr × 1.1399 = $1,368.
- Notes
- Public cover exists via EOPYY (funded through EFKA contributions), but waiting lists and gaps drive a large private market. Local plans run cheaper than international/expat plans ($2,000–4,000+/yr). Greek insurers raised premiums ~14% in 2025 — a rising curated midpoint, not a firm quote.
Limassol
$1,370/yr
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 4, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Comprehensive plans covering BOTH inpatient and outpatient care for a healthy 35-year-old (e.g. top-tier plans from Eurolife/Medica, TruCare, Bupa Global local) run ≈ €80–150/month ≈ €960–1,800/yr; healthy-35 midpoint ≈ €1,200/yr ≈ $1,370 at 1.1399 EUR/USD. Chosen on the with-inpatient comprehensive basis to be comparable across countries. Premiums are quoted on request (insurers do not publish full tables), so this is a curated market midpoint, not an engine quote. Cheaper inpatient-only or outpatient-only plans exist (≈ €500–720/yr). Residents are also covered by the public GHS/GeSY.
04Air quality (PM2.5)
Heraklionstronger
11.7 µg/m³
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Row Irakleio/GRC, year 2024, of the WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026): pm25_concentration = 11.66 µg/m³ at 99% temporal coverage over 1 station, reference "European Environmental Agency". Cross-checked against the EEA statistic it is built from, queried directly on 2026-09-20: station GR0433A HERAKLION-2, urban traffic, annual mean 11.663023 µg/m³, data coverage 98.95%, verification flag 1 (validated). The row’s station sits at 35.3328°N 25.1382°E, 0.9 km from this city’s recorded coordinates. Reference year 2024 is the latest year with a full-year figure and the year already used by the other European cities here; the database also carries 2025 at 10.97 µg/m³, but on 56% coverage, far below the EU’s 90% data-quality objective, so it is reported here rather than used.
- Notes
- ONE station, and an urban traffic one, so this reads high relative to where people actually live — Heraklion has no urban background PM2.5 monitor. For scale, the nearest background site, Finokalia on the coast 48 km east, measured 7.08 µg/m³ in the same year, and the whole Greek network reported between 7.08 and 24.51. Preceding year in the same series: 2023, 13.30 µg/m³ at 88% coverage. Even on the traffic station the figure is well under the EU limit value of 25 and the lowest of the three Greek cities here — Athens 14.2 (a five-station average) and Thessaloniki 16.11 (six stations, four of them traffic) for the same year.
Limassol
16 µg/m³
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- Row Lemesos/CYP, year 2024, of the WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026), read from the published spreadsheet on 2026-08-28: pm25_concentration = 16 µg/m³ at 100% temporal coverage over 1 station (a single urban background station), reference "European Environmental Agency", WHO footprint population 189,600. Reference year 2024 — the latest year this database carries a full-year PM2.5 figure for this city, and the year already used by the other European cities in this dataset. Identity checked against the row's own station centroid, which lies 2.9 km from this city's recorded coordinates — the file contains near-miss names such as "Playa Del Ingles/ESP" and "Porto Empedocle/ITA", so the check is not a formality.
- Notes
- One station, so this is a point measurement rather than a city aggregate — but it is an urban background station, the right type for representing general exposure, and it has run at 100% coverage for twelve straight years. The trend is the thing to note: 12.52 µg/m³ in 2020 rising steadily to 16 in 2024. WHO records the footprint population as 189,600, well above the 107,970 municipal figure recorded on this page, so the row describes the wider urban area. Preceding years in the same series: 2019 13.27, 2020 12.52, 2021 13.36, 2022 14.07, 2023 15.95 — all at 100% coverage.
05English proficiency
Heraklion
High
EF EPI 2025 — Greece (score 592, rank 20/123, High band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): Greece scores 592, rank 20/123 — top of the 'High' band, just below the 'Very High' threshold (~600); global average 488. English is widely functional in tourism, services and among younger Greeks, though the score slipped 10 points from the prior edition.
Limassol
High
EF EPI 2025 (Cyprus rank 40, score 537 — 'Moderate' band) + official language/service-sector reality
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Notes
- Our band 'high'. English is very widely usable in daily life across Cyprus — a former British colony where English is common in business, tourism, banking, private healthcare and among the large expat community, and is widely taught. We place it one band above EF EPI's 2025 'Moderate' (score 537, dropped 21 points from 2024) because EF measures adult test-takers rather than the service-sector prevalence a resident actually encounters; government paperwork is primarily in Greek. Attribution: EF Education First.
Money & crypto
Optimising tax, banking and crypto rules.
Limassol fits better — 2 of 3
01Crypto regulation
Heraklion
Legal regulated
Official source
- Data as of
- Apr 10, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Notes
- EU MiCA applies and was transposed by Law 5193/2025 (10 April 2025), with CASP licensing and EU passporting, supervised by HCMC and the Bank of Greece. Individual crypto capital gains are taxed at a flat 15% (from 1 Jan 2025), with a €500 annual tax-free threshold and 5-year loss carry-forward. Fully legal and now clearly regulated/taxed rather than a grey area.
Limassol
Legal regulated
Central Bank of Cyprus — MiCAR (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, EU 2023/1114)
Official source
- Data as of
- Jul 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Notes
- Holding, trading and cashing out crypto are legal for individuals under standard EU rules. Cyprus applies MiCAR (supervised by CySEC and, for e-money/asset-referenced tokens, the Central Bank of Cyprus); the former national CASP register (CySEC) is being wound down — CASPs must be MiCA-authorised by 27 Feb 2026 and legacy registrations expire by 1 Jul 2026. Individual crypto gains are generally taxed under normal rules (badges-of-trade test); no crypto-specific individual tax break was found on official pages at verification.
02Financial control level
Heraklion
Moderate
Official source
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Composite: EUR (eurozone), full EU free movement of capital; the 2015 crisis-era capital controls were fully lifted on 1 September 2019, so funds move abroad without restriction. Offsetting this: Greece has the STRICTEST cash-payment cap in the EU (€500 for consumer transactions; breaches fined at double the amount) plus routine AML/CASP reporting. The open capital account alone reads 'low', but the €500 everyday-cash restriction pulls the composite up to 'moderate'.
- Notes
- A 2025–26 proposal to cut the cap to €200 was withdrawn; the €500 limit remains.
Limassolstronger
Low
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 4, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Composite: Cyprus is a euro-area EU member — the euro is fully convertible with free movement of capital across the EU/EEA; the 2013 capital controls were fully lifted in April 2015 and none apply today. Non-residents can open bank accounts (subject to standard AML/KYC). No FBAR-style foreign-account self-declaration for residents; standard EU CRS automatic exchange applies via banks. Non-dom residents are exempt from Special Defence Contribution on dividends/interest, reducing the reporting burden on passive income. No cash-transaction limit as restrictive as some EU states. Classified 'low' state control over personal money flows.
03Freelancer tax burden
Heraklion
30.9%
SettleMetric tax engine over official 2026 rules (Law 5246/2025 income-tax scale + e-EFKA Class 1)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Standard freelancer scheme at €60,000, single (scheme gr-freelancer-standard): EFKA Class 1 = 3,006/yr (deductible); income tax on 56,994 via the 2026 scale (9/20/26/34/39%) = 15,528. Levies 18,534 → 30.9%. NOTE: a relocating new tax resident gets the 50% income-tax exemption (Article 5C, scheme gr-freelancer-newresident-50) for 7 years, cutting this to ≈13.5% — but the 30.9% standard figure is the unconditional, steady-state burden shown as the headline.
Limassolstronger
26.5%
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Best (and only) eligible self-employed scheme cy-self-employed-pit at €60,000 revenue with 10% deductible expenses (profit €54,000): social insurance 16.6% × 54,000 = 8,964; GHS 4% × 54,000 = 2,160; both deducted from the PIT base → chargeable 42,876; PIT on the 2026 bands (tax-free to 22,000; 20% 22–32k = 2,000; 25% 32–42k = 2,500; 30% on 876 = 262.80) = 4,762.80. Total levies 15,886.80 ÷ 60,000 = 26.5%. Non-dom status and the 50% first-employment exemption do not reduce self-employment trading income. Note: if the Income Tax Law Art.14 1/5 (20%) cap on the deductibility of contributions is applied strictly, the burden rises to ~27.7%; the full-deduction figure (common practitioner treatment) is used here.
Calm lifestyle
Prioritising safety, air, and an easy daily life.
Heraklion fits better — 4 of 4
01Homicide rate
Heraklionstronger
0.78/100k
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB, geo=EL)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (0.78). Very low by global standards (world average ~5.8) and down over the series (1.29 in 2008 to 0.68–0.88 recently). One of the safer countries in the set.
Limassol
0.93/100k
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (ICCS0101, per 100k)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Notes
- 2024 = 0.93 per 100,000 (latest year). Small-population volatility: the series swings year to year (2022: 0.77; 2023: 1.05; 2024: 0.93). Covers the government-controlled area.
02Air quality (PM2.5)
Heraklionstronger
11.7 µg/m³
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Row Irakleio/GRC, year 2024, of the WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026): pm25_concentration = 11.66 µg/m³ at 99% temporal coverage over 1 station, reference "European Environmental Agency". Cross-checked against the EEA statistic it is built from, queried directly on 2026-09-20: station GR0433A HERAKLION-2, urban traffic, annual mean 11.663023 µg/m³, data coverage 98.95%, verification flag 1 (validated). The row’s station sits at 35.3328°N 25.1382°E, 0.9 km from this city’s recorded coordinates. Reference year 2024 is the latest year with a full-year figure and the year already used by the other European cities here; the database also carries 2025 at 10.97 µg/m³, but on 56% coverage, far below the EU’s 90% data-quality objective, so it is reported here rather than used.
- Notes
- ONE station, and an urban traffic one, so this reads high relative to where people actually live — Heraklion has no urban background PM2.5 monitor. For scale, the nearest background site, Finokalia on the coast 48 km east, measured 7.08 µg/m³ in the same year, and the whole Greek network reported between 7.08 and 24.51. Preceding year in the same series: 2023, 13.30 µg/m³ at 88% coverage. Even on the traffic station the figure is well under the EU limit value of 25 and the lowest of the three Greek cities here — Athens 14.2 (a five-station average) and Thessaloniki 16.11 (six stations, four of them traffic) for the same year.
Limassol
16 µg/m³
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- Row Lemesos/CYP, year 2024, of the WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026), read from the published spreadsheet on 2026-08-28: pm25_concentration = 16 µg/m³ at 100% temporal coverage over 1 station (a single urban background station), reference "European Environmental Agency", WHO footprint population 189,600. Reference year 2024 — the latest year this database carries a full-year PM2.5 figure for this city, and the year already used by the other European cities in this dataset. Identity checked against the row's own station centroid, which lies 2.9 km from this city's recorded coordinates — the file contains near-miss names such as "Playa Del Ingles/ESP" and "Porto Empedocle/ITA", so the check is not a formality.
- Notes
- One station, so this is a point measurement rather than a city aggregate — but it is an urban background station, the right type for representing general exposure, and it has run at 100% coverage for twelve straight years. The trend is the thing to note: 12.52 µg/m³ in 2020 rising steadily to 16 in 2024. WHO records the footprint population as 189,600, well above the 107,970 municipal figure recorded on this page, so the row describes the wider urban area. Preceding years in the same series: 2019 13.27, 2020 12.52, 2021 13.36, 2022 14.07, 2023 15.95 — all at 100% coverage.
03Cost of living (single, excl. rent)
Heraklionstronger
$766/mo
ELSTAT — Household Budget Survey 2023
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- ELSTAT HBS 2023: average annual expenditure per person = €8,358.24 = €696.52/month (monetary purchases, excludes imputed owner rent). Subtracted the actual-rent component (~€24.6/person) → €671.9/person excl. rent × 1.1399 = $766. Same low-reading per-capita HBS basis as peers.
- Notes
- Greek monetary household consumption is genuinely depressed (ELSTAT reports it ~20.5% below 2008), so the per-capita figure lands near Czechia despite Greece feeling pricier in tourist zones. Rent shown separately.
Limassol
$970/mo
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 4, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- CYSTAT HBS 2023 gives mean annual consumption €43,263 per household (avg 2.6 persons, government-controlled area). A single-person, rent-excluded basket matching the criterion (food, transport, utilities, mobile+internet, modest leisure, personal care, out-of-pocket health) was built from the COICOP categories: food 6,254 + transport 5,004 + utilities (30% of the 11,884 housing category ≈ 3,565) + info&comm 1,468 + recreation 1,870 + half of restaurants (2,389) + personal care 2,075 + half of health (1,093) = ≈23,717/household/yr; ÷2.6 persons ×1.12 single-person economies-of-scale uplift = €851/mo; × ECB EUR/USD 1.1399 (2026-07-02) = ≈$970. Rent and imputed rent excluded. This is a curated estimate — CYSTAT does not publish a one-person-household table in the summary release, and housing utilities were split from rent using the ~30% ratio implied by Eurostat HICP weights for Cyprus.
04Climate comfort
Heraklionstronger
10/12 mo
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals (NOAA GSOD 1991–2020, Heraklion Airport)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Months whose mean daily maximum is between 15 and 28 °C AND whose monthly precipitation is under 150 mm: Jan (15.3), Feb (15.6), Mar (17.4), Apr (20.3), May (23.9), Jun (27.5), Sep (27.3), Oct (24.2), Nov (20.4), Dec (16.9) = 10. Only July and August are excluded, both at 29.4 °C. The precipitation test excludes nothing: the wettest month is January at 90.2 mm.
- Notes
- Ten sits at the top of this dataset’s range: Lisbon and Los Angeles also reach ten, and only Bogotá, Las Palmas, Mexico City and Funchal reach twelve. The count rewards a winter that never gets cold rather than a gentle summer — January and February qualify here purely because their daily maxima sit just above the 15 °C floor.
Limassol
6/12 mo
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals (Larnaka Airport WMO 17609 proxy)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Months with mean daily maximum 15–28°C and precipitation < 150 mm: Jan (17.1), Feb (17.5), Mar (19.9), Apr (23.0), May (27.0), Nov (23.3) = 6. Oct just misses (28.3°C > 28); Jun–Sep exceed 28°C (peak-summer heat). Computed from the proxy Larnaka normals; the raw normals are stored alongside so users can judge by their own taste.
- Notes
- Computed from the Larnaka Airport proxy station (see climate-normals notes). Limassol's own summer maxima are similar; a Mediterranean coastal city — the 'pleasant' months cluster in spring and autumn, with hot dry mid-summers and mild wet winters.
03
The full comparison
Open any fact to see what it measures, how fresh it is and the complete source trail for both cities.
01
Taxes
CriterionHeraklionLimassol
01+−Freelancer tax burden% effective burden at €60k/year self-employed profileHeraklion30.9Limassolstronger26.5
What this measures
Effective total burden (income tax + mandatory social and health contributions) for a solo IT freelancer with €60,000/year revenue and 10% deductible expenses, using the most favourable eligible scheme in the country's tax-schemes data. Computed by the SettleMetric tax engine; recorded as a curated value with the winning scheme id in method.
Lower is better· % effective burden at €60k/year self-employed profile· re-verified every 365 days
Heraklion
SettleMetric tax engine over official 2026 rules (Law 5246/2025 income-tax scale + e-EFKA Class 1)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Standard freelancer scheme at €60,000, single (scheme gr-freelancer-standard): EFKA Class 1 = 3,006/yr (deductible); income tax on 56,994 via the 2026 scale (9/20/26/34/39%) = 15,528. Levies 18,534 → 30.9%. NOTE: a relocating new tax resident gets the 50% income-tax exemption (Article 5C, scheme gr-freelancer-newresident-50) for 7 years, cutting this to ≈13.5% — but the 30.9% standard figure is the unconditional, steady-state burden shown as the headline.
Limassol
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Best (and only) eligible self-employed scheme cy-self-employed-pit at €60,000 revenue with 10% deductible expenses (profit €54,000): social insurance 16.6% × 54,000 = 8,964; GHS 4% × 54,000 = 2,160; both deducted from the PIT base → chargeable 42,876; PIT on the 2026 bands (tax-free to 22,000; 20% 22–32k = 2,000; 25% 32–42k = 2,500; 30% on 876 = 262.80) = 4,762.80. Total levies 15,886.80 ÷ 60,000 = 26.5%. Non-dom status and the 50% first-employment exemption do not reduce self-employment trading income. Note: if the Income Tax Law Art.14 1/5 (20%) cap on the deductibility of contributions is applied strictly, the burden rises to ~27.7%; the full-deduction figure (common practitioner treatment) is used here.
02
Legalization
CriterionHeraklionLimassol
01+−Remote-work legalization easeHeraklionDedicated nomad visaLimassolDedicated nomad visa
What this measures
Best available legalization route for a location-independent earner with a median (non-EU, non-US) passport, classified from this country's legalization-paths data: dedicated digital-nomad visa; general freelance/self-employment permit; realistic long-stay path (e.g. renewable temporary residence); only short visa-free/tourist stays; effectively none.
Rated by category· re-verified every 180 days
Heraklion
Hellenic Republic MFA — Digital Nomad Visa (Law 4825/2021)
Official source
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Notes
- Greece runs a dedicated digital-nomad visa (Law 4825/2021): a 12-month visa then a 2-year residence permit for non-EU remote workers earning ≥ €3,500/month net from abroad. Paired with the 50% new-resident income-tax exemption it is one of the EU's most marketed relocation deals for mid-income freelancers, though the income bar is higher than in Albania or Bulgaria. EU citizens simply register.
Limassol
Cyprus Migration Department (Civil Registry & Migration) — Digital nomads and family members
Official source
- Data as of
- Jul 4, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Notes
- Cyprus operates a dedicated Digital Nomad Visa (Council of Ministers scheme): third-country nationals working remotely for foreign employers or clients, minimum net monthly income €3,500, 1-year residence renewable up to 3 years, family included, quota 500 permits. The official gov.cy Migration Department page is the source; it sits behind an Azure WAF that blocked automated fetch, so the €3,500 / 3-year / 500-quota figures were cross-checked against multiple secondary sources reproducing that page — re-verify the live figures from a browser next cycle.
03
Cost of living
CriterionHeraklionLimassol
01+−Cost of living (single, excl. rent)USD/month, single person, excluding rentHeraklionstronger766Limassol970
What this measures
Monthly cost of a defined single-person basket (food, transport, utilities, mobile+internet, modest leisure) excluding rent, curated from national statistics office price data and large local retailers' published prices, converted to USD at the ECB rate recorded in fx-rates. The method field of each value itemizes the basket inputs.
Lower is better· USD/month, single person, excluding rent· re-verified every 365 days
Heraklion
ELSTAT — Household Budget Survey 2023
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- ELSTAT HBS 2023: average annual expenditure per person = €8,358.24 = €696.52/month (monetary purchases, excludes imputed owner rent). Subtracted the actual-rent component (~€24.6/person) → €671.9/person excl. rent × 1.1399 = $766. Same low-reading per-capita HBS basis as peers.
- Notes
- Greek monetary household consumption is genuinely depressed (ELSTAT reports it ~20.5% below 2008), so the per-capita figure lands near Czechia despite Greece feeling pricier in tourist zones. Rent shown separately.
Limassol
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 4, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- CYSTAT HBS 2023 gives mean annual consumption €43,263 per household (avg 2.6 persons, government-controlled area). A single-person, rent-excluded basket matching the criterion (food, transport, utilities, mobile+internet, modest leisure, personal care, out-of-pocket health) was built from the COICOP categories: food 6,254 + transport 5,004 + utilities (30% of the 11,884 housing category ≈ 3,565) + info&comm 1,468 + recreation 1,870 + half of restaurants (2,389) + personal care 2,075 + half of health (1,093) = ≈23,717/household/yr; ÷2.6 persons ×1.12 single-person economies-of-scale uplift = €851/mo; × ECB EUR/USD 1.1399 (2026-07-02) = ≈$970. Rent and imputed rent excluded. This is a curated estimate — CYSTAT does not publish a one-person-household table in the summary release, and housing utilities were split from rent using the ~30% ratio implied by Eurostat HICP weights for Cyprus.
Monthly spending by category (excl. rent)
Heraklion
Limassol
ELSTAT — Household Budget Survey 2023, Table 1 (COICOP shares)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- ELSTAT HBS 2023 Table 1 per-household monthly amounts, with €59.5 rent removed from the Housing line, each divided by household size 2.42 and converted at 1.1399. Items sum to ≈$766. Housing here is utilities/energy/water/maintenance only (rent excluded); Greek energy costs are relatively high, keeping that line large.
CYSTAT Household Budget Survey 2023, single-person basket curated
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 4, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- CYSTAT HBS 2023 mean household spending by COICOP category, per-capita (÷2.6) with a 1.12 single-person uplift, converted at 1.1399 EUR/USD (ECB 2026-07-02). Housing shown as the utilities slice only (~30% of the housing category); rent and imputed rent excluded. Categories sum to ≈$972, matching the ~$970 cost-of-living aggregate. National average (government-controlled area); Limassol runs higher.
01Transport
Heraklioncheaper
$104
Limassol
$205
02Food & non-alcoholic drinks
Heraklion
—
Limassol
$256
03Food & non-alcoholic beverages
Heraklion
$164
Limassol
—
04Utilities (electricity, gas, water)
Heraklion
—
Limassol
$146
05Recreation & culture
Heraklioncheaper
$35
Limassol
$77
06Health (out-of-pocket)
Heraklion
$61
Limassolcheaper
$45
07Restaurants & eating out
Heraklion
—
Limassol
$98
08Restaurants, cafes & hotels
Heraklion
$90
Limassol
—
09Personal care & misc
Heraklion
—
Limassol
$85
10Utilities, energy, water & home upkeep (excl. rent)
Heraklion
$84
Limassol
—
11Miscellaneous goods & services
Heraklion
$67
Limassol
—
12Communications (mobile + internet)
Heraklion
—
Limassol
$60
13Clothing & footwear
Heraklion
$37
Limassol
—
14Household durables & equipment
Heraklion
$35
Limassol
—
15Communications
Heraklion
$34
Limassol
—
16Education
Heraklion
$27
Limassol
—
17Alcohol & tobacco
Heraklion
$27
Limassol
—
Total (excl. rent)
Heraklion$765/mo
Limassol$972/mo
04
Housing
Rent by apartment type
Asking rent, central price with outside-centre in parentheses ($/mo).
Heraklion
Limassol
RE/MAX Ελλάς — nationwide residential rent survey 2026 (rents agreed through the network), Heraklion
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Sep 3, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- DERIVED (€/m² × standardized size). RE/MAX Ελλάς, "Πανελλαδική αύξηση 3,8% στα ενοίκια των κατοικιών το 2026" (published 2026-09-03), price table "Υπόλοιπη Ελλάδα": Ηράκλειο €8.5/m²/month. Standardized sizes studio 30, 1br 40, 2br 60, 3br 85 m², converted at the ECB rate in data/fx-rates.json (EUR 1 = USD 1.1534). E.g. 1br = 8.5 × 40 = €340 × 1.1534 = $392. The table lists a second "Ηράκλειο" at €9.0 under Δυτικά Προάστια — that is the Attica municipality of the same name, not this city.
- Notes
- FLAT BY LOCATION and on a different basis from the other two Greek cities. RE/MAX publishes one figure for Heraklion with no central/suburban split, so both columns carry the same number; the real spread within the city is not published anywhere readable. The figures are rents actually agreed through the network (93 offices, 1,200+ agents, 124 areas), not asking prices, while Athens and Thessaloniki here are Spitogatos asking prices — see the same survey for the size of the gap: it puts central Athens at €9.8/m² against Spitogatos’ €11.5, and the Municipality of Thessaloniki at €9.6 against €10.4, so agreed rents run 8–15% under asking. An asking-basis Heraklion would therefore be roughly €9.2–10.0/m², or $425–460 for the 1-bedroom cell. The ordering is not affected: on the one basis that covers all three, Heraklion (8.5) is below Thessaloniki (9.6) and Athens (9.8), exactly as the stored numbers show.
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jun 30, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Central euro anchors from convergent portal/analytics reports (mid-2026): studio €950, 1br €1,500, 2br €2,300, 3br €3,100 — cross-checked against Landbank Group Analytics (1br €1,600, 2br €2,500, 3br €3,200) and INDEX.cy (1br €1,200–1,800, 2br €1,600–2,500). 'Outside' cells derived by applying an inland/outside discount of ×0.80 (studio/1br) to ×0.74 (2br/3br), consistent with the observed centre-vs-outside 1-bed spread (€1,400 vs €1,150 ≈ ×0.82). All figures × ECB EUR/USD 1.1399 (2026-07-02).
- Notes
- Curated matrix. The 1br cells and the type ladder are anchored to observed portal figures; the studio and the center-vs-outside splits are DERIVED (no Cyprus source publishes rent simultaneously by room count AND by central/outside area). Central = Limassol town centre / seafront corridor (Neapolis, Marina, Germasogeia); outside = inland suburbs (Mesa Geitonia, Kapsalos, Polemidia, Ypsonas). Premium seafront new-builds exceed the 'center' figures materially.
01Studio
Heraklioncheaper
$294$294 outside
Limassol
$1,083$889 outside
021-bedroom
Heraklioncheaper
$392$392 outside
Limassol
$1,710$1,368 outside
032-bedroom
Heraklioncheaper
$588$588 outside
Limassol
$2,622$1,938 outside
043-bedroom
Heraklioncheaper
$833$833 outside
Limassol
$3,534$2,565 outside
05
Safety
CriterionHeraklionLimassol
01+−Homicide rateintentional homicides per 100,000/yearHeraklionstronger0.8Limassol0.9
What this measures
Intentional homicide victims per 100,000 population, latest available year. Country level: UNODC national series. City level: official municipal/police statistics where published; otherwise null (country value shown as country-level).
Lower is better· intentional homicides per 100,000/year· re-verified every 730 days
Heraklion
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB, geo=EL)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (0.78). Very low by global standards (world average ~5.8) and down over the series (1.29 in 2008 to 0.68–0.88 recently). One of the safer countries in the set.
Limassol
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (ICCS0101, per 100k)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Notes
- 2024 = 0.93 per 100,000 (latest year). Small-population volatility: the series swings year to year (2022: 0.77; 2023: 1.05; 2024: 0.93). Covers the government-controlled area.
06
Climate
CriterionHeraklionLimassol
01+−Climate comfortpleasant months/yearHeraklionstronger10Limassol6
What this measures
Number of months whose 1991–2020 climate normals satisfy: mean daily maximum between 15°C and 28°C and monthly precipitation under 150mm. Computed from the city's climate-normals indicator; the raw normals are stored alongside so users can judge by their own taste.
Higher is better· pleasant months/year· re-verified every 3650 days
Heraklion
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals (NOAA GSOD 1991–2020, Heraklion Airport)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Months whose mean daily maximum is between 15 and 28 °C AND whose monthly precipitation is under 150 mm: Jan (15.3), Feb (15.6), Mar (17.4), Apr (20.3), May (23.9), Jun (27.5), Sep (27.3), Oct (24.2), Nov (20.4), Dec (16.9) = 10. Only July and August are excluded, both at 29.4 °C. The precipitation test excludes nothing: the wettest month is January at 90.2 mm.
- Notes
- Ten sits at the top of this dataset’s range: Lisbon and Los Angeles also reach ten, and only Bogotá, Las Palmas, Mexico City and Funchal reach twelve. The count rewards a winter that never gets cold rather than a gentle summer — January and February qualify here purely because their daily maxima sit just above the 15 °C floor.
Limassol
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals (Larnaka Airport WMO 17609 proxy)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Months with mean daily maximum 15–28°C and precipitation < 150 mm: Jan (17.1), Feb (17.5), Mar (19.9), Apr (23.0), May (27.0), Nov (23.3) = 6. Oct just misses (28.3°C > 28); Jun–Sep exceed 28°C (peak-summer heat). Computed from the proxy Larnaka normals; the raw normals are stored alongside so users can judge by their own taste.
- Notes
- Computed from the Larnaka Airport proxy station (see climate-normals notes). Limassol's own summer maxima are similar; a Mediterranean coastal city — the 'pleasant' months cluster in spring and autumn, with hot dry mid-summers and mild wet winters.
02+−Air quality (PM2.5)µg/m³, annual mean PM2.5Heraklionstronger11.7Limassol16
What this measures
Annual mean fine-particulate (PM2.5) concentration for the city, latest available year. Anchors follow the WHO 2021 guideline (5 µg/m³ → 10) through the EU limit value territory (25 µg/m³ → 2). Preferred source: European Environment Agency city-level air quality data; outside Europe: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database or the national monitoring network.
Lower is better· µg/m³, annual mean PM2.5· re-verified every 730 days
Heraklion
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Row Irakleio/GRC, year 2024, of the WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026): pm25_concentration = 11.66 µg/m³ at 99% temporal coverage over 1 station, reference "European Environmental Agency". Cross-checked against the EEA statistic it is built from, queried directly on 2026-09-20: station GR0433A HERAKLION-2, urban traffic, annual mean 11.663023 µg/m³, data coverage 98.95%, verification flag 1 (validated). The row’s station sits at 35.3328°N 25.1382°E, 0.9 km from this city’s recorded coordinates. Reference year 2024 is the latest year with a full-year figure and the year already used by the other European cities here; the database also carries 2025 at 10.97 µg/m³, but on 56% coverage, far below the EU’s 90% data-quality objective, so it is reported here rather than used.
- Notes
- ONE station, and an urban traffic one, so this reads high relative to where people actually live — Heraklion has no urban background PM2.5 monitor. For scale, the nearest background site, Finokalia on the coast 48 km east, measured 7.08 µg/m³ in the same year, and the whole Greek network reported between 7.08 and 24.51. Preceding year in the same series: 2023, 13.30 µg/m³ at 88% coverage. Even on the traffic station the figure is well under the EU limit value of 25 and the lowest of the three Greek cities here — Athens 14.2 (a five-station average) and Thessaloniki 16.11 (six stations, four of them traffic) for the same year.
Limassol
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- Row Lemesos/CYP, year 2024, of the WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026), read from the published spreadsheet on 2026-08-28: pm25_concentration = 16 µg/m³ at 100% temporal coverage over 1 station (a single urban background station), reference "European Environmental Agency", WHO footprint population 189,600. Reference year 2024 — the latest year this database carries a full-year PM2.5 figure for this city, and the year already used by the other European cities in this dataset. Identity checked against the row's own station centroid, which lies 2.9 km from this city's recorded coordinates — the file contains near-miss names such as "Playa Del Ingles/ESP" and "Porto Empedocle/ITA", so the check is not a formality.
- Notes
- One station, so this is a point measurement rather than a city aggregate — but it is an urban background station, the right type for representing general exposure, and it has run at 100% coverage for twelve straight years. The trend is the thing to note: 12.52 µg/m³ in 2020 rising steadily to 16 in 2024. WHO records the footprint population as 189,600, well above the 107,970 municipal figure recorded on this page, so the row describes the wider urban area. Preceding years in the same series: 2019 13.27, 2020 12.52, 2021 13.36, 2022 14.07, 2023 15.95 — all at 100% coverage.
07
Healthcare
CriterionHeraklionLimassol
01+−Private healthcare costUSD/year, comprehensive private insurance premium, healthy 35-year-oldHeraklionstronger1,368Limassol1,370
What this measures
Median of at least three publicly quoted annual premiums for comprehensive private medical insurance (outpatient + inpatient, ~$100k coverage, small deductible) for a healthy 35-year-old resident foreigner, from local and international insurers. Method field lists the insurers quoted.
Lower is better· USD/year, comprehensive private insurance premium, healthy 35-year-old· re-verified every 365 days
Heraklion
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 15, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Midpoint of local comprehensive (inpatient + outpatient) annual premiums for a healthy 35-year-old, €600–1,800 from major Greek insurers (mid-range €100–180/month) → ~€1,200/yr × 1.1399 = $1,368.
- Notes
- Public cover exists via EOPYY (funded through EFKA contributions), but waiting lists and gaps drive a large private market. Local plans run cheaper than international/expat plans ($2,000–4,000+/yr). Greek insurers raised premiums ~14% in 2025 — a rising curated midpoint, not a firm quote.
Limassol
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 4, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Comprehensive plans covering BOTH inpatient and outpatient care for a healthy 35-year-old (e.g. top-tier plans from Eurolife/Medica, TruCare, Bupa Global local) run ≈ €80–150/month ≈ €960–1,800/yr; healthy-35 midpoint ≈ €1,200/yr ≈ $1,370 at 1.1399 EUR/USD. Chosen on the with-inpatient comprehensive basis to be comparable across countries. Premiums are quoted on request (insurers do not publish full tables), so this is a curated market midpoint, not an engine quote. Cheaper inpatient-only or outpatient-only plans exist (≈ €500–720/yr). Residents are also covered by the public GHS/GeSY.
08
Money & crypto
CriterionHeraklionLimassol
01+−Crypto regulationHeraklionLegal regulatedLimassolLegal regulated
What this measures
Own classification of the legal status of holding, trading and cashing out cryptocurrency for individuals: legal-friendly (legal with clear, favourable rules or explicit tax exemptions), legal-regulated (legal under standard licensing/AML and taxation), restricted (partial bans: payments or banking access prohibited), banned (holding/trading prohibited). Classified from national regulators' and central banks' official positions.
Rated by category· re-verified every 180 days
Heraklion
Official source
- Data as of
- Apr 10, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Notes
- EU MiCA applies and was transposed by Law 5193/2025 (10 April 2025), with CASP licensing and EU passporting, supervised by HCMC and the Bank of Greece. Individual crypto capital gains are taxed at a flat 15% (from 1 Jan 2025), with a €500 annual tax-free threshold and 5-year loss carry-forward. Fully legal and now clearly regulated/taxed rather than a grey area.
Limassol
Central Bank of Cyprus — MiCAR (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, EU 2023/1114)
Official source
- Data as of
- Jul 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Notes
- Holding, trading and cashing out crypto are legal for individuals under standard EU rules. Cyprus applies MiCAR (supervised by CySEC and, for e-money/asset-referenced tokens, the Central Bank of Cyprus); the former national CASP register (CySEC) is being wound down — CASPs must be MiCA-authorised by 27 Feb 2026 and legacy registrations expire by 1 Jul 2026. Individual crypto gains are generally taxed under normal rules (badges-of-trade test); no crypto-specific individual tax break was found on official pages at verification.
02+−Financial control levelHeraklionModerateLimassolstrongerLow
What this measures
Own composite of state control over personal money flows: currency/capital controls (IMF AREAER), restrictions on foreign accounts and transfers, mandatory income declaration scope for residents, cash payment limits, banking access for foreigners. Low = free movement of personal funds and easy non-resident banking; very-high = strict capital controls and pervasive reporting. Method field on each value lists the inputs used.
Rated by category· re-verified every 365 days
Heraklion
Official source
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Composite: EUR (eurozone), full EU free movement of capital; the 2015 crisis-era capital controls were fully lifted on 1 September 2019, so funds move abroad without restriction. Offsetting this: Greece has the STRICTEST cash-payment cap in the EU (€500 for consumer transactions; breaches fined at double the amount) plus routine AML/CASP reporting. The open capital account alone reads 'low', but the €500 everyday-cash restriction pulls the composite up to 'moderate'.
- Notes
- A 2025–26 proposal to cut the cap to €200 was withdrawn; the €500 limit remains.
Limassol
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 4, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Composite: Cyprus is a euro-area EU member — the euro is fully convertible with free movement of capital across the EU/EEA; the 2013 capital controls were fully lifted in April 2015 and none apply today. Non-residents can open bank accounts (subject to standard AML/KYC). No FBAR-style foreign-account self-declaration for residents; standard EU CRS automatic exchange applies via banks. Non-dom residents are exempt from Special Defence Contribution on dividends/interest, reducing the reporting burden on passive income. No cash-transaction limit as restrictive as some EU states. Classified 'low' state control over personal money flows.
09
Infrastructure
CriterionHeraklionLimassol
01+−Domestic delivery qualityHeraklionGoodLimassolGood
What this measures
Quality of in-country parcel delivery. excellent = nationwide next-day widely available, dense parcel-locker network, real-time tracking standard; good = 1–3 day delivery, lockers in major cities; basic = reliable but slow (3–7 days), mostly to-door or post-office pickup; poor = unreliable delivery, street addresses often unusable, informal workarounds common. Classified from official service/coverage data of the national postal operator and the two largest private carriers; inputs itemized in each value's method field.
Rated by category· re-verified every 730 days
Heraklion
Greek carrier networks (ELTA, ACS, BoxNow) — composite
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 15, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Dense mainland-city coverage: national couriers (ELTA post, ACS, Geniki Taxydromiki, Speedex) plus one of SE Europe's largest parcel-locker networks (BoxNow) and Skroutz Last Mile; cash-on-delivery ('αντικαταβολή') is mainstream. Athens/Thessaloniki are excellent, but ELTA's financial troubles and ferry-dependent island last-mile keep the national rating at 'good' rather than 'excellent'.
Limassol
Cyprus Post (national operator) + ACS Courier / DHL (largest domestic carrier) official pages
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 4, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Classified from the national postal operator's and the largest private courier's official service/coverage data: Cyprus Post (~51 service points, EMS, tracking) plus ACS Courier (largest domestic courier, DHL's exclusive Cyprus parcel partner, cash-on-delivery, Saturday delivery) and DHL/UPS/FedEx cover the whole government-controlled area. Typically 1–3 day to-door delivery with tracking and common cash-on-delivery, but parcel-locker density is low compared with locker-first markets → 'good' rather than 'excellent'.
- Notes
- Small-island logistics; government-controlled area.
02+−International delivery easeHeraklionstrongerSeamlessLimassolMinor friction
What this measures
Ease of receiving goods from abroad. seamless = major international carriers deliver door-to-door, meaningful duty-free de-minimis threshold, customs clearance predictable in days; minor-friction = carriers present but low de-minimis, extra paperwork or routine delays; significant-friction = frequent customs holds, high brokerage fees, some marketplaces refuse to ship; unreliable = parcels regularly lost or blocked, informal import channels dominate. De-minimis thresholds and clearance rules from the national customs authority (official source, cite the regulation); carrier presence from carriers' official pages.
Rated by category· re-verified every 365 days
Heraklion
EU single market / customs union membership (Greece) + integrator coverage
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 15, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Qualitative rating from EU membership: as an EU/Schengen customs-union member, intra-EU parcels move without customs or border VAT, so the bulk of European e-commerce is frictionless, and all major integrators (DHL, FedEx, UPS, ACS/Aramex) operate → 'seamless'. Minor caveats (not enough to downgrade): Greece is geographically peripheral (a day or two longer than core-EU hubs), non-EU imports clear customs normally, and island delivery adds domestic delay.
- Notes
- Intra-EU frictionless; the geographic periphery and islands add some transit time but not customs friction.
Limassol
Official source
- Data as of
- Jul 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Notes
- Intra-EU shipping is frictionless (single market; DHL/ACS/UPS/FedEx all operate). Non-EU imports: the €150 duty-free threshold was removed on 2026-07-01, with a temporary €3/item flat duty on ≤€150 consignments until 2028; VAT (19%) applies from checkout via IOSS or on import. As an island, Cyprus has slightly longer transit and occasional customs handling, but clearance is predictable — 'minor-friction'.
03+−Internet speedMbps, median fixed downloadHeraklionstronger37.3Limassol16.8
What this measures
Median fixed-broadband download speed over the trailing 6 months from M-Lab NDT open data (CC0), aggregated at country or city level. Not comparable with Ookla figures (different test methodology) — do not mix sources within this criterion.
Higher is better· Mbps, median fixed download· re-verified every 365 days
Heraklion
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Greece
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 343 daily country-median download values for GR in 2023 = 37.3 Mbps (268,076 download tests; daily medians ranged 21.3–47.3). M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads below Ookla-style tests — comparable only within this criterion. 2023 is the latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API.
- Notes
- Greece's fixed broadband is improving as fibre rolls out; the single-stream M-Lab median is used only for cross-country comparability on one consistent method.
Limassol
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Cyprus
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Median of 343 daily country-level download medians (download_MED) for 2023 — the latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API (2024 has only ~86 days; 2025/2026 not yet published).
- Notes
- M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads well below Ookla-style figures — comparable only within this criterion. Cyprus fixed broadband is largely VDSL/FTTH; real retail speeds are much higher than this test-based median.
10
Language
CriterionHeraklionLimassol
01+−English proficiencyHeraklionHighLimassolHigh
What this measures
Own banding of how far English gets a resident in daily life (government offices, healthcare, housing, services). Informed by EF EPI band (research source, cited with attribution, not republished) plus official language status and service-sector realities. Values are our bands, not EF scores.
Rated by category· re-verified every 730 days
Heraklion
EF EPI 2025 — Greece (score 592, rank 20/123, High band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): Greece scores 592, rank 20/123 — top of the 'High' band, just below the 'Very High' threshold (~600); global average 488. English is widely functional in tourism, services and among younger Greeks, though the score slipped 10 points from the prior edition.
Limassol
EF EPI 2025 (Cyprus rank 40, score 537 — 'Moderate' band) + official language/service-sector reality
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Notes
- Our band 'high'. English is very widely usable in daily life across Cyprus — a former British colony where English is common in business, tourism, banking, private healthcare and among the large expat community, and is widely taught. We place it one band above EF EPI's 2025 'Moderate' (score 537, dropped 21 points from 2024) because EF measures adult test-takers rather than the service-sector prevalence a resident actually encounters; government paperwork is primarily in Greek. Attribution: EF Education First.
11
Education
CriterionHeraklionLimassol
01+−International schoolsaccredited international schools, countHeraklion1Limassolstronger3
What this measures
Count of international schools in the metro area accredited by or member of IB, CIS, COBIS, or an equivalent national-curriculum-abroad body (verified against the accreditor's public registry, not aggregator sites).
Higher is better· accredited international schools, count· re-verified every 730 days
Heraklion
Official source
- Data as of
- Sep 20, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Accreditor-verified: the School of European Education – Heraklion (A. Nioti and Savathianon 8, seeh.eu) is listed on the European Schools registry as accredited to teach the European Schools curriculum from nursery to the European Baccalaureate, English and Greek language sections, first Baccalaureate session 2015. It is the only Accredited European School in Greece, one of the 24 locations on that registry, and was set up around the EU agency ENISA, which the registry names as its linked agency.
- Notes
- VERIFIED FLOOR. The IB World Schools directory (ibo.org) has refused our requests since the Polish work in August 2026 and the Internet Archive holds no snapshot of its country listings, so any IB-authorised school in Heraklion could not be counted or ruled out — the same blocked check that leaves thirteen other published cities in this dataset without a count. Heraklion is unusual in that one accredited school could be confirmed at a different registry, so it carries a number rather than a gap; treat it as "at least one", not as a complete count.
Limassol
IB World Schools records + AEFE network directory (accreditor registries)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 4, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Count of Limassol schools verified against an accreditor's own registry: (1) The Island Private School of Limassol — IB World School, IB record 063078, the only full IB Continuum (PYP/MYP/DP/CP) school in Cyprus; (2) PASCAL Private Secondary School Lemesos — authorised as an IB World School offering the IB Diploma Programme from September 2025 (confirmed on PASCAL's official site and Cyprus Mail 2025-07-02); (3) École franco-chypriote — Limassol annex, homologué in the AEFE network (aefe.gouv.fr directory, 'École franco-chypriote de Nicosie et son annexe de Limassol').
- Notes
- CONSERVATIVE, registry-verified count = 3 (2 IB + 1 AEFE French). Limassol additionally has several Cambridge-International British-curriculum private schools (e.g. Foley's, Logos School of English Education, Heritage, Silverline, The Grammar School, American Academy) offering IGCSE/A-Level; the criterion allows Cambridge accreditation, but the Cambridge 'Find a Cambridge school' registry and the IB school finder were both bot-protected (Algolia / Cloudflare) and could not be queried per-school this cycle, so those are NOT included to avoid an unverified count. True figure is materially higher (aggregator listings show ~13 English-medium international schools in Limassol) — re-verify the Cambridge registry manually to raise the count.