Figures released yesterday by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) showed that Greece has proportionally more students studying abroad than any other country.

According to the OECD, there are 51,138 Greeks studying at foreign universities – the sixth highest overall. But when the size of the country’s population is taken into account, Greece is by far the largest exporter of students.

Greece has 4,784 students abroad for every 1 million inhabitants. The next country on the list is South Korea which has 2,008 students in foreign institutions for every million South Koreans.

Most Greek students (22,826) are at British universities. France is the next most popular destination, with 7,577 Greeks studying there.

Meanwhile, in Greece, as entrance requirements for universities and technical colleges become more stringent, figures indicate that more students are looking to undergo their tertiary education at private vocational training colleges (IEKs).

The head of the Greek Organization for Vocational Education and Training (OEEK), Haralambos Botsaris told Kathimerini that there has been a 17.5 percent increase in the number of enrollments at IEKs this year.

“The impressive thing is that there is greater interest in traditional professions like plumbing, accounting and hairdressing,” said Botsaris.