A study carried out by an Athens-based think tank showed that despite years of economic recovery, Greece still has a “brain drain,” or emigration problem.
The study carried out by the Institute for Alternative Policies (ENA) reported that between 2010 and 2022, 1.08 million working age people left the country, of which 234,058 were aged 15-24, 633,680 aged 25-44 years old, and 212,254 aged 45-64.
Of this total, more than 796,000 emigrated during the years of the economic crisis (2010-2018) and over 283,000 did so after the crisis had ended between 2019 and 2022. In both time frames, almost 60 percent of those who emigrated from Greece were from the 25-44 age cohort, the most productive group.
“These young people continue to leave the country, at a somewhat lower rate compared to the crisis period but a distinctly greater rate compared to the pre-crisis period,” the report said.
According to the study, “Their departure not only deprives the Greek economy of valuable human capital, but constitutes another proof that the losses suffered by the Greek economy during the period of the crisis had long-lasting consequences.”
According to the latest numbers reported by the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT), Greece’s total resident population is more than 10 million as of 2021.
Survey on Greece’s brain drain problem
In 2019, a survey conducted by YouGov for the European Council on Foreign Relations showed that the nations of Southern and Eastern Europe worry more about emigration than immigration.
The trend of millions of young, educated people leaving Southern and Eastern Europe to find better careers in Northern and Western Europe has become the main cause of worry in EU member states. This is especially the case in countries such as Spain, Italy, Greece, Hungary, Poland, and Romania.
According to the findings of the survey, countries which had been hit hard by the financial crash of 2008 such as Greece and Spain, are now worrying more about the impact a “brain drain” might have on their societies.
More than fifty thousand people were surveyed across fourteen different EU member states in an effort to discover the main concerns citizens had ahead of European elections this year (2024).
The survey uncovered one extremely surprising reality. Despite the fact that Southern Europe was mainly hit by the refugee crisis in 2015 and 2016, it is people from the northern part of the EU who worry more about the implications of immigration.
More than half of the Greek, Italian, and Spanish citizens polled were in favor of controlling the numbers of emigration out of their countries rather than immigration into their nations.
For example, approximately one out of three Greeks, Italians, and Spaniards were exclusively concerned about emigration, with the numbers pertaining to immigration coming in much lower.