The World's Best Digital Nomad Cities to Live and Work in Have Been Identified

Internet speeds, living costs, climate and safety are among the most important criteria that make a city a suitable place for increasingly popular remote work. The remote employee hiring platform Deel has compiled a special chart of the friendliest cities for digital nomads or wanderers. 12th place on the chart is taken by the Estonian capital Tallinn, which has become the leading city in the Baltic States. 

During the past two years, according to data from Deel, there has been a 112% increase in the number of digital nomads in the world taking advantage of the freedom of global mobility. Digital nomads, or location-independent remote professionals, are people who reside outside their home country for at least part of the year while working remotely as salaried employees, contracted workers, or running their own business.

"In today's globally competitive conditions, a good professional can choose an employer from any country, physically based where they feel most at home - in any part of the world, and in any environment that allows for the option of remote working. People are no longer obliged to travel to another country in search of a better life and job, or, on the contrary, give up the prospect of life in their dream country because their career has developed in their home country. These days everybody can employ the best experts from all over the world, no matter how big the country, the company operates in or where the potential employee resides. This must not become the decisive factor for a company's successes. Remote working has become part of our daily lives, and one of its advantages is that confers the opportunity to choose where you live - including relocating to a beautiful beach and working from there," explains Liina Laas, Deel's Head of Expansion for Central and Eastern Europe. 

First place in in Deel's list of the most popular digital nomad cities is taken by the Portuguese capital of Lisbon. Along with breath-taking scenery, Lisbon offers fast internet connections, pleasant temperatures, high levels of security and access to jobs, and a lot of fun.

In second place according to Deel is Chiang Mai in Thailand, which in time could prove to be an even more attractive destination than the country's capital of Bangkok, which is popular with both professionals and tourists alike. Thanks to the low cost of living, Chiang Mai has developed a colourful digital nomad community turning this Thai city into one of Asia's most popular digital nomad cities with a wide range of co-working spaces.

Third place in the chart goes to Medellin, Columbia's second biggest city, located in the northern Andean region. South America is one of the world's fastest growing regions for global recruitment and launching start-ups. Also known as the city of eternal spring, Medellin offers digital nomads pleasant weather all year round as well as excellent infrastructure. Life in Medellin is cheap, the environment is clean and tidy and the nightlife is vibrant.

Tallinn has become the leading city in the Baltic region. Among its attractions highlighted by Deel are the possibility of obtaining a one-year digital nomad visa, as well as Tallinn's compact dimensions, where everything can be reached on foot, fast Wi-Fi, a wide range of co-working spaces and the friendly disposition of locals. Furthermore, Estonia has a well-developed, digitalised healthcare system and easy connections to other European countries.

"It is not always necessary to visit exotic lands in a different continent to change your working environment and acquire new experiences. Regional job searches can also prove to be very successful and lead to exciting work experiences. Just because a country is small doesn't mean it cannot appeal to interests of the world's most outstanding digital nomads. This is underlined by the fact that the popularity of remote hiring is growing rapidly in the Baltic region as a whole, and in Estonia in particular. Latvia also definitely has the potential: good infrastructure, convenient international connections, great restaurants and a lively nightlife that could draw in digital nomads from all over the globe," comments Liina Laas.

Deel's chart of the cities most friendly to digital nomads also includes Budapest, Barcelona, Tbilisi and Prague in Europe, Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, Cape Town in South Africa, Austin in Texas, USA, Canggu in Bali, Indonesia, the Argentinian capital Buenos Aires, Auckland in New Zealand, Playa del Carmen in Mexico, Turkey's pearl - Istanbul and San Jose in Costa Rica. More information about the advantages that these cities have to offer is available here. You can also find out more about each city on nomadlist.com.