Since around ten years the phenomenon of digital nomads’ movement is closely related to the increase of digital communication and the further development of new social media platforms and advertisement. But let’s remind just for one moment what a nomad is in the origin of the wording. A nomad is a person without a fix habitation, due to pastoral and trader activities. The direct contact with the environment is fundamental for feeding the livestock, or getting in contact with suppliers and buyers. This all describes the tradition.

When we talk nowadays, a nomad can be a digital or global nomad as well. So, the primary function is not moving to the best environment for survival, but it’s just the move to a more enjoyable place for working and keeping the distance from the clients. Many modern nomads have their favorite places, where to work and often the places get selected by considering life-cost and environmental beauty for a better life-work balance. Digital nomads are in their increasingly number attractive consumer groups because they combine in themselves professional skills and high qualifications with the ability to communicate. Therefore, new working spaces are required in urban and rural environments as well as time-saving services for the same.

It is getting interesting if we have a look on some hard facts about the digital nomad’s movement.

What doesn’t surprise that most of the digital remote workers are highly skilled people with an already existing record in the professional field. They switched to the remote work for a better work life balance and for serving various clients in their international business development. Many remote workers are business development managers or marketing experts. What surprises instead is the high percentage of male and the low percentage of female workers.

Some more facts about the digital nomads lifestyle and community:

31% of digital nomads are women and 69% are men.

54% of digital nomads are more than 38 years old.

54% of digital nomads travel full-time, while 46% of digital nomads consider themselves part-time travelers.

44% of respondents claimed real-time communication tools like Slack are important for helping them stay connected.

70% of digital nomads travel to five or more countries per year.

51% of digital nomads live in a hotel. 

16% of digital nomads live in hostels. 

31% of married digital nomads travel with their partners full-time.

What Does the Future Look Like for Digital Nomads?

17 million people aspire to be a digital nomad in the future. 

American digital nomads have grown by 49% from 2019 (7.3 million digital nomads) to 2020 (10.9 million digital nomads).

The remote workforce has increased by 140% since 2005.

By the end of 2020, there were 23,000 coworking spaces worldwide.

In 2021, the top countries for digital nomads are Canada, the UK, and Romania.

With companies opening up the possibility of part-time or full-time remote work, more traditional employees are becoming digital nomads. Whether that means they’re leaving large metropolitan cities to explore the countryside, plan to invest in a van to live in, or want to travel internationally, there are various ways that people can explore the digital nomad lifestyle.

16% of digital nomads earn over $75,000 per year.

American remote workers (14%) were more likely to earn six figures than international remote workers (8%).

Despite a majority of digital nomads making under $75,000 per year, many don’t pay for the regular household bills that others do such as car payments, gas, rent, utilities, and even decor and clothes shopping.

Digital nomads often live a minimalistic lifestyle, allowing for their budget to go towards travel expenses, accommodations, and coworking spaces.

28% of remote companies have women CEOs, founders, or presidents.

More digital nomads are employed by a company (35%) than digital nomad freelancers (28%) or business owners (18%).

72% of digital nomads have a bachelor’s degree.

33% of digital nomads have a master’s degree.

Remote workers are 13% more productive than in-office employees.

74% of workers said they would quit their current jobs to work for a remote company.

90% of digital nomads report being highly satisfied at work.

Knowing that it seems that the group of nomadic workers, home office employees, and remote service providers form the future backbone of business for international enterprises. It could be also the end of the huge office structures in the cities. We are living in exciting times.