Market Watch report states that Greece is losing its priceless human capital as a result of the continued economic crisis. The brain drain is believed to be the worst since the time of Socrates as the country’s brightest leave to seek careers abroad.

The economy/brain shrinkage has led to an estimated 180,000-200,000 well-educated Greeks to abandon the “Titanic” of Greece, about 10% of the total of university-educated in the country.

The European University Institute study cited in the report states that 88% of those who left have a university degree, over 60% have a master’s degree and 11% are PhD holders. The report sites that 79% of the people leaving the country had jobs at the start of the crisis but 50% decided to abandon Greece as they began to believe that there was “no future” in the country whereas 25% left as professional opportunities appeared in other countries.

It is believed that a large majority of the 35,000 young Greeks studying abroad would choose to seek employment outside the country, states the report. Meanwhile, 70% of university graduates state that they would like to work abroad and 10% are already searching for employment in another country.

The United Kingdom is a top choice for Greeks leaving, followed by Germany and the Netherlands. Finance graduates are more likely to head to the U.K. whereas doctors head to Germany and engineers to the Middle East.