Which country has the highest Brain Drain Index?

Samoa has the highest Brain Drain Index in 2024, at 10.0, followed by Palestine (9.4) and Jamaica (9.2).

Which country has the lowest Brain Drain Index?

Australia has the lowest Brain Drain Index in 2024, at 0.3.

What is the median Brain Drain Index across countries?

The median is 5.4 across the 175 countries with data in 2024.

Where does this brain drain countries data come from?

Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: The Global Economy - Human flight and brain drain - Country rankings.

Country rankings

Brain Drain Countries

Name: Brain Drain Countries
Creator: Rankodex

Samoa has the highest Brain Drain Index in 2024 (10.0), followed by Palestine (9.4) and Jamaica (9.2). Australia has the lowest (0.3).

Economics Population177 countries · 1 metricUpdated Jul 31, 2025Original page

1 source

The Global Economy - Human flight and brain drain - Country rankings

ShowingBrain Drain IndexBetter directionWhether a higher or a lower value is better. A green arrow means higher is better, a red arrow means lower is better, and no arrow means neither.More in the glossary →

Year

175 of 235 countries

Compare this metric Add to combined ranking Open full map

Brain Drain Index, 2024

Darker means higher. Click a place to highlight it.

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Ranking

Highest first: the first 15 and last 5 of 175 countries.

Distribution Median and middle halfThe median is the middle value: half of places are above it, half below. The middle half is the range holding the central 50% of places.More in the glossary →

Each dot is one country; the lines mark the median and the middle half.

Median

5.4

Middle half 3.5 – 6.4

Average

5.0

175 countries

Highest

10.0

Samoa

Lowest

0.3

Australia

Over time · 2022–2024

The top 5 in 2024, against the median.

Median of all countries
Samoa
Palestine
Jamaica
El Salvador
Eritrea

Data

Click a column to sort, a row to highlight that place on the charts.

175 countries · # = rank by Brain Drain Index

#
1	Samoa	10.0
2	Palestine	9.4
3	Jamaica	9.2
4	El Salvador	8.9
5	Eritrea	8.7
6	Somalia	8.5
7	Ukraine	8.4
8	Albania	8.3
9	Micronesia	8.1
10	Sudan	8.0
10	Haiti	8.0
12	Guyana	7.9
13	Syria	7.7
13	Cape Verde	7.7
15	Moldova	7.6
16	Sri Lanka	7.5
17	Mali	7.4
17	Chad	7.4
17	Grenada	7.4
20	Fiji	7.3
21	Bosnia and Herzegovina	7.2
21	Lesotho	7.2
23	Mozambique	7.1
23	Comoros	7.1
25	Afghanistan	7.0
25	Zimbabwe	7.0
25	Nicaragua	7.0
28	Burkina Faso	6.9
28	Armenia	6.9
30	Morocco	6.8
30	Senegal	6.8
30	Honduras	6.8
30	Lebanon	6.8
30	Georgia	6.8
30	Gambia	6.8
30	Sao Tome and Principe	6.8
37	Bangladesh	6.7
37	Trinidad and Tobago	6.7
39	Nigeria	6.6
39	Cameroon	6.6
41	Ghana	6.5
41	Sierra Leone	6.5
41	North Macedonia	6.5
44	Venezuela	6.4
44	Dominican Republic	6.4
44	Kyrgyzstan	6.4
44	Guinea-Bissau	6.4
48	DR Congo	6.3
48	Tanzania	6.3
48	Kenya	6.3
48	Niger	6.3
48	Laos	6.3
53	Yemen	6.2
53	Guatemala	6.2
53	Togo	6.2
53	Liberia	6.2
57	Nepal	6.1
57	Malawi	6.1
57	Republic of the Congo	6.1
57	Antigua and Barbuda	6.1
61	Myanmar	6.0
61	Uganda	6.0
61	Zambia	6.0
61	Guinea	6.0
61	Jordan	6.0
61	Central African Republic	6.0
67	Ethiopia	5.9
67	Serbia	5.9
69	Iraq	5.8
69	Benin	5.8
69	Rwanda	5.8
69	Papua New Guinea	5.8
69	Croatia	5.8
74	Peru	5.7
74	Cambodia	5.7
74	Tunisia	5.7
74	Cuba	5.7
74	Eswatini	5.7
79	Madagascar	5.6
79	Mauritania	5.6
79	Namibia	5.6
79	Solomon Islands	5.6
79	Suriname	5.6
84	Pakistan	5.5
84	Ivory Coast	5.5
84	Latvia	5.5
87	Indonesia	5.4
87	Bhutan	5.4
89	Angola	5.3
89	Romania	5.3
89	Bolivia	5.3
89	Lithuania	5.3
93	Tajikistan	5.1
94	Seychelles	5.0
95	Burundi	4.9
95	Libya	4.9
95	Bulgaria	4.9
95	Maldives	4.9
99	India	4.8
99	Barbados	4.8
101	Egypt	4.7
102	Mexico	4.6
102	Philippines	4.6
102	Iran	4.6
102	Algeria	4.6
106	Colombia	4.5
106	Azerbaijan	4.5
108	Vietnam	4.4
108	Kazakhstan	4.4
108	Paraguay	4.4
108	Estonia	4.4
112	South Africa	4.3
112	Poland	4.3
112	Ecuador	4.3
112	Gabon	4.3
112	Bahamas	4.3
117	Malaysia	4.2
117	Belarus	4.2
117	Botswana	4.2
120	Greece	4.1
121	Uzbekistan	4.0
122	Slovakia	3.9
122	Mongolia	3.9
122	Mauritius	3.9
122	Djibouti	3.9
122	Belize	3.9
127	Russia	3.8
127	Turkmenistan	3.8
129	Turkey	3.6
129	Hungary	3.6
129	Malta	3.6
132	Thailand	3.4
132	Equatorial Guinea	3.4
134	China	3.3
134	Panama	3.3
134	Slovenia	3.3
137	Brazil	3.2
137	Portugal	3.2
137	Cyprus	3.2
140	South Korea	3.1
140	Uruguay	3.1
142	Chile	3.0
142	Czechia	3.0
144	North Korea	2.9
144	Bahrain	2.9
144	Brunei	2.9
147	Costa Rica	2.7
148	Belgium	2.6
149	Japan	2.4
149	Argentina	2.4
149	Saudi Arabia	2.4
149	Ireland	2.4
153	United Kingdom	2.3
153	Israel	2.3
153	Kuwait	2.3
156	Italy	2.2
157	France	1.8
157	Netherlands	1.8
157	United Arab Emirates	1.8
160	Germany	1.6
160	Austria	1.6
160	New Zealand	1.6
160	Luxembourg	1.6
164	Iceland	1.5
165	United States	1.4
165	Finland	1.4
167	Spain	1.3
168	Singapore	1.0
169	Switzerland	0.9
170	Denmark	0.8
170	Qatar	0.8
172	Canada	0.7
173	Sweden	0.6
174	Norway	0.4
175	Australia	0.3

What correlates with Brain Drain Index (2024)?

Pearson r against 1,448 other country metrics sharing at least 105 countries. Correlation is not causation.

Higher together

Places that have a higher Brain Drain Index tend to score higher on these

Brain DrainFailed States
r = +0.99 · very strong · n = 174
Plot
Lunio 2020Tier 1 Countries
r = +0.74 · very strong · n = 138
Plot
External InterventionFailed States
r = +0.73 · very strong · n = 174
Plot
Failed States IndexFailed States
r = +0.73 · very strong · n = 174
Plot
Marketing Experts 2023Tier 1 Countries
r = +0.73 · very strong · n = 137
Plot
Fragile States Index
r = +0.73 · very strong · n = 175
Plot

Opposite directions

Places that have a higher Brain Drain Index tend to score lower on these

InfrastructureLogistics Performance Index by Country
r = −0.82 · very strong · n = 135
Plot
GNI per Capita AtlasGNI per Capita by Country
r = −0.81 · very strong · n = 136
Plot
CustomsLogistics Performance Index by Country
r = −0.80 · very strong · n = 135
Plot
Global Food Security Index (GFSI) ScoreFood Self Sufficiency Rate by Country
r = −0.80 · very strong · n = 112
Plot
Logistics Performance Index (LPI) Total ScoreLogistics Performance Index by Country
r = −0.79 · very strong · n = 135
Plot
GDI Male Est. GNI per CapitaGender Development Index by Country
r = −0.79 · very strong · n = 169
Plot

Quick answers

Which country has the highest Brain Drain Index?: Samoa has the highest Brain Drain Index in 2024, at 10.0, followed by Palestine (9.4) and Jamaica (9.2).
Which country has the lowest Brain Drain Index?: Australia has the lowest Brain Drain Index in 2024, at 0.3.
What is the median Brain Drain Index across countries?: The median is 5.4 across the 175 countries with data in 2024.
Where does this brain drain countries data come from?: Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: The Global Economy - Human flight and brain drain - Country rankings.