According to a new ranking of the world’s best cities for digital nomads — people who work remotely while traveling and living abroad — the top 10 includes cities in Asia, Europe and South America. Kursiv LifeStyle reveals the best places for remote workers to combine work, daily life and travel.
The ranking was compiled by an independent VPN review platform. The authors compared 104 major cities based on cost of living, internet speed, number of work and leisure options, cultural opportunities and weather. The study initially covered 150 cities, but 46 were excluded for various reasons.
Seoul took first place with a score of 73.60. Tokyo came in second with 72.61, and Hanoi came in third with 71.86. Taipei and Osaka followed. In all, four East Asian cities and one Southeast Asian city made it into the top five.
Seoul received the highest score thanks to its abundant workspaces, leisure facilities and fast internet speeds. The average download speed there was 69.27 megabits per second — the best among the top 10 cities. Moreover, prices in Seoul are approximately 36% lower than the U.S. benchmark used by the survey’s authors.
Tokyo ranked second and had the highest number of leisure facilities, with over 395 such spaces per square kilometer. Hanoi, in turn, stood out for its affordability with prices approximately 71% lower than the U.S. benchmark. The Vietnamese capital also had the most workspaces among the top 10 — 96.88 per square kilometer.
Two Spanish cities also made the ranking. Barcelona ranked sixth with 68.11 points, and Madrid seventh with 66.67. These were the only European cities in the top 10. Barcelona slightly outranked Madrid thanks to a greater number of work, leisure and cultural venues, as well as more comfortable working days.
São Paulo took eighth place, Nagoya, Japan, took ninth, and Ho Chi Minh City rounded out the top 10. When compiling the ranking, the authors also took weather into account: days with average temperatures between 15 and 28 degrees Celsius and precipitation of less than 5 millimeters were considered comfortable for work.
Kazakhstan is also trying to attract remote workers from other countries. A special Neo Nomad Visa is in place for this purpose, allowing foreigners to reside in the country for up to a year while continuing to work for a foreign company.
