Dubai was ranked the second best city for digital nomads globally, according to The Work-From-Anywhere Index.
Coming second in a list of 75 countries, Dubai followed Melbourne as the most attractive destination for digital nomads based on multiple factors.
The rankings indexed the most liveable global destinations across three categories — costs and infrastructure, legislation and freedoms, and liveability. These categories covered factors such as the price and availability of home office spaces, internet speeds, visas and taxation, human rights and freedoms, inclusivity, and culture and leisure, as well as vaccination and COVID-19 infection rates.
Dubai particularly stood out for friendlier taxation norms, with the lowest taxation rate across all the surveyed cities (there is no income tax in Dubai). Additionally, availability of accommodation, remote working infrastructure, and inclusivity for gender-based minorities in the emirate made it a preferred choice for digital nomads.
Further, the UAE has one of the highest vaccination rates globally, making it an attractive destination by safety norms. Rents have also dropped substantially in recent months, and Dubai’s residential market is leaning towards tenant-first incentives.
To add to it all, the UAE recently announced a slew of visa options targeted at remote workers and freelancers. These visas open up resident visa benefits for digital nomads working in the UAE, including healthcare, dependent visas and other support.
Apart from Melbourne and Dubai, Sydney, Tallinn and London also featured in the top five cities for digital nomads.
DIGITAL NOMADS NEED BETTER VISA OPTIONS WORLDWIDE
Digital nomads have become a popular workforce trend in recent years. The ability to work remotely, and the rise of the gig economy and Internet businesses has meant that it has become increasingly easier for professionals to work digitally and from a place of their choosing.
The Nestpick survey found that this trend of digital nomads accelerated in the last 12 months due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
“The last year has really proved to many companies that remote-working is not only a possibility, but actually something that can be beneficial to everyone involved. The technology has been available for a while now, but it’s taken seeing it in practice for the idea to really take hold,” Omer Kucukdere, Founder and CEO at Nestpick, the company behind The Work-From-Anywhere Index.
However, few countries offer options to attract foreign-employed workers, and therefore are unable to shift high-wage earners to their cities without generating new jobs.
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