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Top 10 best European locations to work remotely from

Top 10 best European locations to work remotely from

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Surprisingly, France, Portugal, and Italy don’t make it to the top 10 list of locations for digital nomads.

Remote work is now ubiquitous, with countless companies offering work from anywhere (WFA) initiatives to engage employees back to the business in a post COVID landscape. Whether it's digital nomads, freelancers, or full time employees, the chance to work and travel has never looked better especially with the technology available today.

Where then should you look go for your next workcation? Electronics website Ebuyer collected data on five key factors to compile its list of the best countries to work in abroad (within Europe). The five criteria covered were:

  1. Happiness index - Over a three-year period.
  2. Social media sentiment - Positive posts about "working from home".
  3. Number of rainy days.
  4. Internet download speed.
  5. Cost of living with rent.

Top 5 best places to work abroad in Europe

The Netherlands, Norway, and Malta ranked as the top three countries to work remotely from, respectively. With the third highest happiness rating on Ebuyer's list with a score of 7.42, the Netherlands (pictured above) also had the highest social media positive sentiment achieving a score of 26.3 and an excellent internet speed of 70.32mbps, making it one of the most attractive working locations in Europe

Scandinavian country Norway followed in second place with its social media positive sentiment score of 23.7 and a happiness rating of 7.37. The island of Malta's lower cost of living and good weather helped it secure third spot on the list.

In fourth and fifth place were Hungary and Denmark respectively. Hungary had one of the cheapest average monthly living costs on the list at €853.37 alongside Romania and Bulgaria.

However, where Hungary stands out above its Balkan neighbours is in its positive social media sentiment and internet speed. Steps ahead of Romania and Bulgaria, this makes Hungary the Balkan country to visit first. Denmark the second Scandinavian country in the top five had the second highest happiness of any European country, just behind Finland, and the best internet speed of any country at a staggering 123.96mbps.

Rank

Country

Happiness Score

Internet Download Speed (Mbps)

Social Media Positive Sentiment (%)

Cost Of Living With Rent (€)

Number of Rainy Days

1

Netherlands

7.42

70.32

26.3

2115.66

130

2

Norway

7.37

41.66

23.7

2096.64

116

3

Malta

6.45

44.59

14.7

1573.11

59

4

Hungary

6.09

40.79

16.3

853.37

86

5

Denmark

7.64

123.96

9.5

1975.46

156

6

Spain

6.48

23.41

16

1372.19

61

7

Sweden

7.38

75.54

17.1

1632.73

163

8

Finland

7.82

57.78

16.1

1644.92

181

9

Greece

5.95

15.16

20.2

1070.48

97

10

Belgium

6.81

47.24

18.1

1630.49

137

11

Slovenia

6.63

35.04

19.2

1196.12

150

12

Germany

7.03

29.64

12.4

1694.94

103

13

Italy

6.47

12.71

13.7

1433.05

79

14

Switzerland

7.51

110.77

8.49

3127.01

125

15

Czech Republic

6.92

20.87

5.15

1269.97

87

16

United Kingdom

6.94

27.23

12.5

1787.77

111

17

Romania

6.48

33.49

5.56

840.77

111

18

Austria

7.16

22.03

16.9

1611.28

160

19

Estonia

6.34

27.26

21.8

1261.98

173

20

Poland

6.12

26.18

19.5

1012.82

161

21

Portugal

6.02

24.75

14.2

1259.46

114

22

France

6.69

23.01

11.8

1624.08

113

23

Latvia

6.18

31.38

19.4

1063.24

180

24

Slovakia

6.39

27.03

10.8

1086.7

142

25

Luxembourg

7.40

92.76

8.39

2597.95

177

26

Ireland

7.04

23.36

13.2

2366.47

127

27

Croatia

6.13

19.82

7.69

1037.45

130

28

Lithuania

6.45

28.38

11.3

1219.14

175

29

Bulgaria

5.37

20.74

7.83

845.27

118

Top 5 worst places to work abroad in Europe

On the flip side there were a few countries that you might prefer a shorter rather than extended stay, according to this list. 

Luxembourg landed fifth from the bottom of list, despite having one of the highest happiness scores on the list. The minimal positive social media sentiment and the second-highest cost of living per month make Luxembourg a less appealing remote work location.

It was followed by Ireland, another surprise for so low down on the list. Like Luxembourg, Ireland suffers from a high average cost of living and a surprisingly awful internet speed of just 23.36mbps making it more a vacation than a workcation destination. 

Croatia, Lithuania, and Bulgaria were the bottom three countries on the list. Croatia had one of the worst internet speeds on the list, even though it had a low cost of living, its rainy weather and low positive social media sentiment made it one of the least appealing destinations. Lithuania, plagued by the same issues of slow internet, rainy weather, poor happiness scores and a low positive social media sentiment made it the second worst place for working abroad in Europe.

The worst place for remote work, however, according to this list, was Bulgaria. While a great country to visit on holiday, Bulgaria was found to have an average Internet speed of 20.74mbps and a lack of positive social media sentiment, although it is known for its affordable living costs.


Image / Shutterstock

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