Welsh strategy aims to protect against brain drain

In an effort to persuade more young people to remain in their homeland amid concerns that the percentage of working-age citizens is worryingly low, the Welsh government is taking action. Ministers fear that unless the “brain drain” is stopped, the country may struggle to pay the bills to look after its ageing population. The economy minister Vaughan Gething said: “It’s a really significant challenge for us. If we don’t have more people of working age in good work, we’ll end up with a smaller and smaller tax base.”

In 2020, the proportion of the population in Wales aged 16-64 was 61% in Wales, compared with 62% of the UK population as a whole. By 2043, this is projected to drop to 58% for Wales and 59% for the UK. Another concern is that the loss of young people could lead to a decline in the Welsh language. The government’s aims is to have a million Welsh speakers by 2050.