Greece’s brain drain reached a new high in 2025, as the number of university-educated Greek citizens living in other EU and EFTA (European Free Trade Association) countries rose significantly. The increase shows that the phenomenon remains a major challenge for the country.
According to Eurostat Labour Force Survey data cited by Greece in Figures, 128,500 Greek citizens aged 20 to 64 with tertiary qualifications resided in another EU/EFTA country in 2025. The figure rose by 13,900 people (12.1 percent) from 2024, reaching the highest level ever recorded. The data suggests that Greece continues to lose a significant share of its skilled workforce, even as official domestic migration figures point to a more positive trend.
Figures from the Hellenic Statistical Authority, ELSTAT, show that Greece’s migration balance has shifted since 2023, with more Greek citizens returning to the country than leaving it.
However, labor force surveys from other European countries present a different picture. They show that the number of Greeks living and working across Europe continues to rise and reached a new high in 2025. Overall, 386,100 Greeks aged 20 to 64 lived in EU/EFTA countries in 2025. That represents an increase of 30,300 people in just one year, also a record level.
The latest figures indicate that migration from Greece increasingly involves people with higher levels of education and professional skills. Almost the entire annual increase, 30,000 out of 30,300 people, was from Greeks with at least secondary education. In contrast, the number of Greeks abroad with only compulsory education remained broadly unchanged.
This points to a more selective form of migration, driven less by general population movement and more by the relocation of workers with qualifications, specialized skills, and stronger access to international labor markets.
Brain Drain: ιστορικό υψηλό το 2025, σύμφωνα με τις έρευνες εργατικού δυναμικού των ευρωπαϊκών χωρών
Μέσα σε έναν μόνο χρόνο, 13.900 περισσότεροι Έλληνες πτυχιούχοι ΑΕΙ έφυγαν για άλλη ευρωπαϊκή χώρα, αύξηση 12,1%.
Πλέον, 128.500 Έλληνες πολίτες ηλικίας 20-64 με ανώτατη… pic.twitter.com/aS6Bd6tGTN
— Greece in Figures (@GreeceInFigures) May 7, 2026
Greek graduates now make up one of three almost equal-sized education groups among Greeks living elsewhere in Europe. In 2025, 128,500 Greek citizens aged 20 to 64 with tertiary education lived in other EU/EFTA countries. They stood alongside 126,300 Greeks with upper-secondary education or vocational training and 130,200 people who had completed only compulsory education.
The employment rate among Greek graduates abroad reached 85.9 percent, significantly higher than the corresponding rate for university graduates living in Greece.
The longer-term trend is even more striking. In 2015, 64,700 people born in Greece and holding a higher education degree lived in EU/EFTA countries. Ten years later, that number had more than doubled, reaching 130,100.
This group has grown much faster than Greeks abroad with secondary education, whose number increased by 4.5 percent over the same period. Meanwhile, the number of Greeks abroad with primary education fell by 10.3 percent. As a result, people with tertiary education now account for 42 percent of all Greece-born residents living in these European countries.
Greece ranks tenth in Europe for the migration of people with tertiary education. The index for Greece stands at 12.5 highly educated migrants per 1,000 residents. Croatia and Lithuania hold the top positions, with 27.9 and 24.4 people per 1,000 residents, respectively.
Luxembourg records the lowest figure, with 1.9 highly educated migrants per 1,000 residents moving within the same European area.
