One of the longest-lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic will likely be the growing acceptance of remote work by companies throughout the world — and the ensuing geographical freedom for all their employees. Because when you don’t have to show up at the office every day, you can work wherever you please, whether that’s from your bed in the family home or from a paradisiacal location thousands of miles away.
Nomad List has put together charts ranking the fastest-growing remote work cities around the world. They analyzed 121,512 check-ins by thousands of Nomad List members to see where people have been living out their remote work dreams over the past five years.
According to the chart, Canggu, Bali, is the fastest-growing city over the past five years, growing by 377 percent from 2015 to 2019. Indonesia is followed by Lisbon, Portugal, at 227 percent; Sydney, Australia at 209 percent; and Mexico City, Mexico, at 186 percent. The gap between Canggu and Lisbon is rather large, however, pointing to the overwhelming popularity of Bali.
Affordability is one of the most important factors remote workers consider before moving to a new place. According to the chart, growing remote work hubs with affordable real estate include Bali and Portugal but also Kiev in Ukraine and Minsk in Belarus.
If money is no object and you’re just looking for pure inspiration, there’s even a chart that measures the most-visited destinations in 2019 and over the past five years by remote workers. Bangkok, London, Berlin, the Indonesian island of Bali, and New York City top that list.