Brain drain is increasingly a matter of concern within the European Union, as more and more highly skilled people migrate from the South and East to the North and West of the continent. In the case of Greece, where the unemployment rate reached 25.7% in January 2015, while unemployment among young people reached 57%, the brain drain is a serious issue.

Greece has lost 25% of its GDP since the crisis began - equally to the GDP lost by Western Europe and the U.S. during World War II. The country’s "intellectual capital" continues to be a strong national asset but, according to professor Lois Lambrinidis, the number of highly skilled Greeks who have left the country since the beginning of the crisis rose to 180,000. High-skilled migration of such scale may have further implications to the Greek economy’s long term growth potential.

Germany and U.K. are the countries that mainly reap the benefits of the human capital that is fleeing the country. They account for more than 50% of the work-related immigration below the age of 35.

See also: Market Watch (May 17); The Guardian (January 19); European University Institute: High-Skilled Migration in Times of Crisis; Greek News Agenda: Documenting Greece’s New Diaspora