Nearly half a million Greeks have left their homeland in just eight years.
Figures from the country’s central bank reveal that 427,000 economic migrants have gone since 2008.
“The current exodus is being led by young professionals seeking their fortunes in Germany, the UK and the United Arab Emirates,” according to the report. Over 100,000 have moved abroad since 2013.
Many of the migrants are talented and highly skilled, leaving Greece with its largest brain drain in modern times. The fact that so many trained professionals have chosen to work abroad does not augur well for the country’s economic recovery.
The health sector has been dented by the departures as many doctors have joined the exodus. The bulk seem to have made their way to Germany where it is reported that about 25,000 Greek doctors are practicing.
“Migration and poverty are undoubtedly the two most painful consequences experienced by a society in protracted crisis conditions,” the report’s author Sophia Lazaratou said.
The country’s economy had started to grow again at the end of 2014, but in the first quarter of this year it contracted by 1.4%.
The astonishingly high unemployment rate has barely budged away from its 25% levels reaching to a staggering 50% for young people.
Greece ranks third - after Cyprus and Spain - in terms of the proportion of young people leaving their home country.
Previous periods of migration from Greece have been mainly unskilled workers and farmers.
The first wave, between 1903 and 1917, saw Greeks reaching the US, Australia, Canada, Brazil and parts of Africa. The majority were males aged between 15 and 44.
The next major move lasted from 1960 to 1972 where 70% of migrants were aged 20 to 34 and half were manual works destined for German or Belgian factories.
Economist Sofia Lazaretou said “both phases took place following an intense period of recessionary upheaval."
