The mass exodus of Jamaican experts looking for work overseas has landed the island in second place on the human and flight and brain drain index.
According to the statistics presented by the business and economics website TheGlobalEconomy.com, Jamaica ranked second behind Samoa, which received a ten on the list of 177 countries compiled by research site TheGlobalEconomy.com.
The index ranks countries based on data collected between 2007 and 2022, with zero being the lowest score and ten being the highest.
Jamaica’s low ranking on the index is a result of the number of teachers leaving local classrooms for higher-paying jobs abroad.
The Global Economy stated that “the higher the index, the greater the human displacement,” and that its “indicator considers the economic impact of human displacement (for economic or political reasons) and the consequences this may have on a country’s development.”
Haiti, with a score of 8.2, and Guyana, with a score of 8.1, were ranked ninth and tenth on the index, respectively.
The Bahamas is the Caribbean island least affected by brain drain, with a score of 4.3 index points and a ranking of 120.
Australia came in 177th place, but it is the country least affected by its citizens’ migration for economic or political reasons.
The country received 0.4 points, trailing Sweden (0.6).
The United States was ranked 163 in the indicator of human flight and brain drain, with a score of 1.8, the same as Oman.
According to TheGlobalEconomy.com, the data used to calculate the final index point is gathered from central banks, national governments, the World Bank, the United Nations, and the International Monetary Fund, among other agencies.
