In this article, we will list the 25 best countries for remote working. If you want to skip our discussion about remote work, go to the 11 Best Countries for Remote Working.
Remote work is gaining popularity because it offers flexibility to the employer and employee. It enables the employees to live wherever they want with increased work-life balance and the employers to cut down on office expenses. While remote work was gaining a slight momentum before 2019, the COVID pandemic brought about a seismic shift.
Buffer, a social media marketing software company, conducted an interesting survey that highlights the experiences of 3000 remote workers around the world. Almost all of the respondents to the survey (98%) said that they would like to work remotely at least for some time for the rest of their careers. This highlights that those who work remotely are satisfied with their situation. High work satisfaction among remote workers is also proven by the fact that 68% of the respondents described their experience with remote work as very positive.
Currently, most of the global workforce works from the office. According to Forbes Advisor, as of 2023, 12.7% of full-time employees work from home, while 28.2% work on a hybrid model. However, the popularity of remote work is on the rise, which is why an increasing number of people are looking for the best places for remote work.
Remote work is especially on the rise in the United States. In 2020, Upwork Global Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) estimated that nearly 22% of the US workforce, which translates to 32.6 million Americans, will work remotely by 2025. A more recent survey of more than 7000 workers by FlexJobs sheds light on the popularity of remote work across generations. Most of Generation X (62%) and 45% of millennials see remote work as their most preferable work situation. In addition, 22% of the Gen Z respondents identified remote-only work arrangements as their ideal work environment.
As we previously mentioned in our least densely populated countries piece, the rising popularity of remote work is also causing some interesting demographic changes within the US since the pandemic. The pandemic led to significant shifts in population distribution within the country, resulting in people leaving urban hubs for suburban areas. New York City, for example, lost over 5% of its population in the two years after the pandemic.
Some companies help remote workers look for job opportunities, whether as a freelancer or full-time. One such company is Upwork Global Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK), headquartered in San Fransisco, California. The company operates an online platform that connects those looking for remote work opportunities (whether freelance or full-time) with their potential employers through a proposal bidding system. Employers post their requirements on the Upwork Global Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) platform and get proposals from potential employees. The company has a significant economic footprint in the global economy. Its community earned over $3.8 billion in 2023, earning the company $689.1 million in revenue. Upwork Global Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK)'s revenue grew by 11% in 2023 compared to the last year. The company generated a net income of $46.9 million in 2023, whereas it was in a loss of $89.9 million in 2022.
With that backdrop, let's look at the 25 best countries for remote working.
To curate our list of the best countries for remote working, we devised an original methodology. The first step in creating our methodology was to understand the requirements of remote workers.
The most essential requirement of any remote worker is a reliable internet connection. So, we used two metrics to judge the state of broadband internet connection in a country. The first was the percentage of internet users, and the second was the median broadband download speed. The higher the percentage of internet users, the more accessible the internet is in the country, even in remote areas. Similarly, high median broadband download speeds depict that the country has a good and reliable internet infrastructure.
We also know that remote workers look for countries with advanced technologies and high quality of living. We previously included both these aspects in our 50 Best Countries in the World piece, so we used that list in our methodology.
We started by noting down the countries in our best countries list along with their ranks. The country that ranked 1st on that list was awarded 50 points, the second-ranking country was given 49 points, and so on. Then for each country, we looked at the World Bank's data to note the percentage of people using the internet and ranked them based on that. All the ranks were then converted into points, with the top-ranking country given 50 points. We repeated this process for median broadband download speed using data from the Speedtest Global Index.
Finally, we divided each country's sum of points by 3 to arrive at the Insider Monkey Remote Work Readiness Score, with a maximum score of 50. The higher the score, the more remote work-ready the country is and the higher it ranks on our list.
By the way, Insider Monkey is an investing website that tracks the movements of corporate insiders and hedge funds. By using a similar consensus approach we identify the best stock picks of more than 900 hedge funds investing in US stocks. The top 10 consensus stock picks of hedge funds outperformed the S&P 500 Index by more than 140 percentage points over the last 10 years (see the details here). Whether you are a beginner investor or a professional looking for the best stocks to buy you can benefit from the wisdom of hedge funds and corporate insiders.
25 - Ireland
Insider Monkey Remote Work Readiness Score - 29.55
Ireland is one of the 25 best countries for remote working. More recently, the country recorded the fastest growth in remote working in the European Union. Ireland ranks 44th on the Speedtest Global Index with 110.64 Mbps broadband speed.
24 -Thailand
Insider Monkey Remote Work Readiness Score - 30.15
Thailand is 23rd on our list of the 25 best countries for remote working. Its capital and largest city, Bangkok, is heaven for remote workers because of the low cost of living compared to other major cities.
23 - Qatar
Insider Monkey Remote Work Readiness Score - 30.33
Qatar has recently emerged as one of the major destinations for remote workers. The country has a relatively low living cost compared to other countries of its caliber, and it has made a significant investment in technology.
22 - Malaysia
Insider Monkey Remote Work Readiness Score - 30.73
Malaysian digital nomad visa has gained popularity recently. It is offered initially for a period between 3 and 12 months with the option to spend as long as 24 months. It is an excellent country for remote working with a low cost of living and a well-developed infrastructure.
21 - Kuwait
Insider Monkey Remote Work Readiness Score - 31
Kuwait is 21st on our list of the 25 best countries for remote working. It ranks 23rd in the Speedtest Global Index with 166.42 Mbps median broadband download speed.
20 - Australia
Insider Monkey Remote Work Readiness Score - 31.3
Australia is 20th on our list of the 25 best countries for remote working. Remote working is quite prevalent in the country, with 29% of Australians working remotely in 2022, according to Finder.com.
19 - Belgium
Insider Monkey Remote Work Readiness Score - 31.45
Belgium is one of the best countries for remote working. While the country does not offer any digital nomad visa, its long-stay visa allows individuals to reside in the country for longer durations and possibly work remotely.
18 - New Zealand
Insider Monkey Remote Work Readiness Score - 31.97
New Zealand is ranked 24th in the Speedtest Global Index with 164.86 Mbps median broadband download speed. Most digital nomads enter and stay in the country using a Working Holiday Visa.
17 - Japan
Insider Monkey Remote Work Readiness Score - 32.03
Japan, the 17th country on our list of the 25 best countries for remote working, ranks 15th on the Seedtest Global Index. It has a median broadband download speed of 198.6 Mbps, which is among the fastest in the world. The country recently unveiled its plans to issue six-month visas catering to digital nomads.
16 - Germany
Insider Monkey Remote Work Readiness Score - 32.18
Germany is one of the best countries to work remotely. While the country does not offer specific visas to remote workers, its freelance visa and self-employment visa are used by workers to enter and work from the country.
15 - Norway
Insider Monkey Remote Work Readiness Score - 34.91
Norway is 15th on our list of the 25 best countries for remote working. The country offers a dedicated Digital Nomad Visa that allows all foreign nationals who meet the required criteria to live in the country while working remotely.
14 - Saudi Arabia
Insider Monkey Remote Work Readiness Score - 35
It might be surprising to see Saudi Arabia in the list of the 25 best countries for remote working. However, its capital Riyadh has great infrastructure for remote work, including high broadband speeds and an abundance of co-working spaces.
13 - France
Insider Monkey Remote Work Readiness Score - 35.21
France is one of the best countries for remote working. The country ranks 7th on the Speedtest Global Index with 240.36 Mbps median broadband download speed.
12 - Sweden
Insider Monkey Remote Work Readiness Score - 35.55
Sweden is 12th on our list of the 25 best countries for remote working. Digital nomads wishing to work from Sweden can do so on a tourist visa (for a period of three months) if they are not working for a Swedish company.
