"The readiness of young and educated workers to move is high," Henry Auväärt, chief of communications at CV Keskus Baltics, said in a press release. "Therefore Estonian employers as well as policy designers have to make an effort to keep talented workers in Estonia, in addition to inviting foreign talent here. The destinations that Estonian people are most interested in are Finland, the US, Sweden, the UK, Norway, Germany, Spain, Australia, the Netherlands and Canada."

Respondents in the global survey once again chose the US as the most desirable destination country. Germany placed second, replacing the UK, while Canada ranked third most popular. The top three was followed by Australia, the UK, Spain, France, Switzerland, Italy and Japan.

Estonia again placed 68th in the ranking, while Finland was 21st, Latvia 72nd and Lithuania 67th, up 16 places.

"It seems that the competition to find workers on the Baltic and Scandinavian markets has become much tougher, and our attempts at becoming a desirable country for talented people are not reflected in the fresh study — workers prefer Lithuania and Finland over Estonia," Auväärt noted.

At the same time, he continued, it is good news that Estonia is more popular among talented people in the IT sector than its Baltic neighbors, placing 52nd, compared with Latvia's 64th and Lithuania's 74th place.

A total of 366,139 employed people and 6,180 recruiting consultants from 197 countries were interviewed for the study.