Overview
- Artizarra Fundazioa and Deusto Business School tracked about 42,000 people aged 25–40, including roughly 30,000 from Euskadi and 12,000 from Navarra.
- The report estimates that converting current intent could bring back around 35,700 highly qualified profiles, most with degrees, master’s or doctorates concentrated in engineering and management.
- Employment, career development and higher pay drove departures, while housing affordability and a lack of attractive roles now deter return.
- The diaspora is primarily in Europe (57.5%) and the rest of Spain (27.1%), with smaller shares in the United States (7.1%) and other regions; 60% have been away for more than six years.
- Deusto’s Guillermo Dorronsoro called return-focused policies a highly profitable investment, as media commentary notes one opinion piece that recalculated the potential returnee pool at 25,000, diverging from the study’s 35,700 estimate.