More and more Israeli scientists are leaving the country – and not returning. New figures show that the academic brain drain threatens research, innovation and Israel’s strategic future.
Israel is increasingly losing one of its most important pillars: highly qualified scientific professionals. New data from the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) show that, for the first time since 2023, more Israeli academics are leaving the country than returning. Key areas such as mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and medicine are particularly affected – precisely those fields on which Israel’s economic, technological and security strength is based.
According to the CBS, in 2024, around 54,800 graduates of Israeli universities had been living abroad for at least three years. This corresponds to 6.2 per cent of all university graduates, but almost 12 per cent of all scientists with PhDs. In individual disciplines, the figures are significantly higher: more than a quarter of those with PhDs in mathematics and just under 22 per cent in computer science have left Israel.
source and detailed article: israelnetz (in German)
more on this topic in English: Times of Israel