Digital nomads look away: Copenhagen is not your dream city, study confirms

Recently reopened Melbourne tops ranking. Let’s face it, they’ve been getting plenty of practice at working remotely!

Copenhagen has ranked poorly in The Cities Best Facilitating Remote Work: A Global Index, a new study compiled by WorkMotion, the global HR platform, which assesses 80 global cities’ suitability to remote workers.

The study ranked 80 global cities according to their accessibility and attractiveness to digital nomads based on a variety of factors, with a focus on global employment compliance.

Recently reopened Melbourne topped the ranking (if anywhere is going to know about remote rankings!) ahead of Montreal, Sydney, Wellington, Prague, Toronto, Tallinn, Zagreb, Singapore and Dublin.

Top for happiness despite the high prices and taxes
Although Copenhagen only ranked 43rd, it was number one for happiness and third for ease of compliance.

The Danish capital was let down by its high taxes and affordability, ranking a lowly 77th in both categories.

It ranked a creditable ninth for LGBT+ Equality and 13th for Gender Equality, but was mid-table for Cultural Attractions (40) and Access to Healthcare (34).

Accelerated by the pandemic
The 80 cities were selected by WorkMotion for being the best they had dealings in.

“Although we had long anticipated the move to remote working, the pandemic has hastened the trend far faster than we could have imagined,” commented WorkMotion co-founder and managing director Carsten Lebtig.

“The technology for remote work was well-established and in use prior to the pandemic; what has changed in the intervening period is the mindset companies have towards remote working.”

Slow on the digital nomad visa uptake
Lebtig would like to see more cities offer a digital nomad visa, which allows remote workers to continue their employment in the country of their relocation.

However, only 11 of the 80 cities in the study currently do.

While Copenhagen does not offer one, six of the top ten do.





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