Charlie Kwan/Getty Images
- Tide carried out a survey of 30 countries to find the best country to be a freelancer.
- Singapore ranked first, with the report noting the strong and fairly inexpensive internet there.
- The US ranked outside the top 10.
Becoming a freelancer gives you the freedom to choose when and where you work. However, you might not always be able to find steady work.
Depending on what you do and what country you’re in, this can feel like an extended vacation or it can be a time filled with anxiety and uncertainty.
Financial solutions company, Tide, carried out a survey of 30 countries to find the best place to be a freelancer.
The survey used eight measurements to analyze how well-suited a country is to the needs of a freelancer.
Speed and cost of internet, number of coworking spaces, legal rights, gender equality, cost of living, number of searches for freelance work, and happiness were the measurements used.
The World Bank provided them information on legal rights, and they used the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2020 to assess gender equality.
They used Numbeo for data on the cost of living and countryeconomy.com to assess happiness.
They used the Speedtest Global Index to find internet speed and data from Cable.co.uk to find internet costs.
Coworker was their source for the number of coworking spaces available and they used Google Keyword Planner to find searches for freelance work.
They then used this and data from the World Population Review to work out the number of searches for freelance work and the number of coworking spaces per 100,000 people in each country.
They gave the data collected from each measurement an equal weighting and then combined them into a single score out of 10.
The US ranked 12th out of the 30 countries with a score of 6.12.
It seems that one of the main problems in the US is lack of demand for freelance work. The survey showed there were only 365 Google searches for freelancer work per 100,000 people.
These are the top five countries to freelance in, according to Tide.
1. Singapore
Singapore ranked as the best place to freelance in 2021, with a score of 7.35.
This was largely due to quick, affordable internet and a large number of available coworking spaces.
2. New Zealand
New Zealand came second, scoring 7.20.
Internet costs are high in the country but strong ratings in legal rights, happiness, and gender equality saw it rank highly.
3. Spain
Spain was in third place with a score of 6.53.
Its main strengths were cost of living and gender equality.
4. Australia
Although Australia has the slowest broadband of the top 10 countries, it makes up for it in the Gender Gap Index and Happiness Index.
This ensured it placed fourth with a score of 6.49.
5. Denmark
Denmark has the second-highest cost of living of the top 10 but its happiness rating was top of all the countries in the survey at 7.65.
It also scored well in broadband speed and gender equality.
Powered by WPeMatico
