Remote working has changed the way many of us approach our work life balance, and it’s no wonder more and more people are looking overseas for their next career opportunity. But where are the best places to work abroad in 2024?
Expat community organisation InterNations has released its Working Abroad Index for 2024, as part of its wider Expat Insider survey, spanning more than than 12,500 expats that represent 175 nationalities and live in 174 countries.
Of these countries, 53 had enough respondents to fill out the Index, which ranks countries across subcategories spanning four different main areas: Career Prospects; Salary and Job Security; Work & Leisure; and Work Culture and Satisfaction.
Below are some of the best places to work abroad in 2024, as well as some key takeaways from the survey results that may be helpful if you’re thinking about your future career abroad.
The best places to work abroad in 2024
Based on survey results, InterNations ranked the following countries as the top 10 destinations to work abroad:
- Denmark
- Saudi Arabia
- Belgium
- Netherlands
- Luxembourg
- UAE
- Australia
- Mexico
- Indonesia
- Austria
Denmark, Saudi Arabia and Belgium all score highly
The three front runners in the list – Denmark, Saudi Arabia and Belgium – all performed well in the rankings, but interestingly often for different reasons.
Denmark ranked first in the Work Culture and Satisfaction category, which measured how flexible local businesses are (i.e. with remote work or flexible hours), as well as job satisfaction. It also came first in Work and Leisure, which measured expats’ happiness with working hours or work-life balance.
More than four in five respondents (84%) said they were satisfied with their work-life balance, against 60% globally, and a similar share (83%) were happy about working hours, versus 62% worldwide.
Expats spent a weekly average of 39.2 hours at work in Denmark, compared to a global average of 42.5 hours.
The country also did well when it came to flexible working and flexibility, but fell down on job security, placing 22nd out of 53 countries, and came 21st when it came to career prospects.
Saudi Arabia wins on job prospects and career opportunities
In Saudi Arabia meanwhile, 75% of expats said that moving there had improved career prospects, with 62% rating their personal career opportunities favourably versus 53% globally.
Around 63% of people said that they had moved to the country for job-related reasons – significantly higher than 35% globally.
However, expats said that they faced longer workdays in Saudi Arabia, with an average of 47.8 hours a week for full-time positions, versus 42.5 hours weekly.
This put Saudi Arabia in 23rd compared to other countries for this category, and in 27th for work-life balance.
Europe and the Middle East were well represented in Top 10
A number of new countries entered the Top 10 in 2024, with five countries in the top 10 for 2023 losing their spot this year – including Finland, Sweden, Canada, Taiwan and Ireland – and five staying in the top 10 – Denmark, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Australia and the UAE.
Five European countries made the top 10 list this year, including the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark and Belgium – these countries generally performed well when it came to the economy and job security, and also received good to great results when it came to working hours.
Meanwhile, the UAE and Saudi Arabia represented the Middle East in the top 10, with both countries ranking particularly well for career prospects (the UAE coming 2nd out of 53 countries, and Saudi Arabia coming first).
Similarly to Saudi Arabia, around three in five respondents moved to the UAE for work-related reasons.
Which countries have improved the most for working abroad?
A number of countries very much improved their standing on this year’s list.
Brazil saw a wave of improvements across many factors, with the country jumping from 28th to 6th in terms of the view of the local jobs market and rising from 27th to 16th in terms of personal career opportunities.
Panama saw a major ranking jump from 30th in 2023 to 12th in 2024, based on expats enjoying their work-life balance (3rd place compared to 11th), working hours (7th, up from 16th) and improved job security (24th to 45th).
For Belgium meanwhile, the country has jumped up the rankings from 21st to 3rd place, with the country coming 2nd in job security, 7th when it comes to the strength of its local jobs market and 9th when it comes to personal career opportunities.
In addition, 65% of people who had moved to Belgium said that it had improved their job prospects.
Which countries have gone down in the rankings?
Equally, there have been some countries that have seen big drops since last year’s index.
Finland fell from 5th place in 2023 to 26th in 2024 on the back of falls across declining views of the country’s local job market and personal career opportunities.
In 2024, only 30% of respondents said that moving to Finland improved their career prospects, versus 56% globally.
Canada, meanwhile, saw a similar drop from 7th place in 2023 to 39th place in 2024 as expats reported being less satisfied with the state of the country’s economy, working hours and job security.
These changes just go to show how macroeconomic effects and a changing local job market shift – alongside working cultures and flexibility – can shape an expats’ perspective on working in a country overall.
Sending money abroad for expats
Looking to take the leap and move overseas for work?
You’ll need to consider how you send money across borders – whether you’re making payments for local accommodation or sending earnings back to friends and family at home.
FXcompared can help you compare money transfer providers so that you can get the best deal on your money transfers. Check out our money transfer comparison tool to get a quote in seconds today.