For many young professionals in Tunisia, having a steady job is no longer enough to convince them to stay. Hamza, a 26-year-old software engineer earning what he describes as a good income at a foreign firm, is among those preparing to leave. While financial strain remains a major driver of migration, he and many peers say their decision is shaped by broader frustrations: difficult dealings with bureaucracy, rising living costs, and a growing sense that they have little power to build a predictable future at home.
The urge to leave comes against a backdrop of severe economic hardship and lingering political frustration. Seven years into President Kais Saied's rule, official figures show that national unemployment reached 14.9 percent in mid-2026, climbing to 35.4 percent among people aged 15 to 24 and 26.6 percent among university graduates. A survey by the research network Afrobarometer found that roughly two-thirds of young Tunisians have considered emigrating, with over half saying they think about it frequently. While some supporters argue the president has sincere intentions and needs more time to enact reforms, recurring shortages of basic goods continue to wear down public patience.
This departure is increasingly depriving the country of trained specialists it can ill afford to lose. According to the Tunisian Order of Engineers, roughly 6,500 engineers left Tunisia in 2022 alone, more than double the annual average recorded a decade earlier. The healthcare sector has suffered a similar drain, with thousands of doctors and healthcare workers recruited abroad through state technical cooperation agencies in pursuit of better working conditions and reliable professional progression.
Migration experts note that the underlying reasons for leaving have fundamentally evolved. Rather than just sending remittances back home or escaping immediate unemployment, many educated youth now view emigration as a comprehensive life project. As migration researcher Ramadan Ben Omar observed, young Tunisians are not only seeking higher salaries, but also greater personal freedom, opportunities to take part in public life, and long-term stability that feels increasingly out of reach.