Remote work remained highly uneven across countries in 2023, with some nations embracing work-from-home arrangements far more than others.
The chart compares average paid workdays worked from home per week across multiple countries using data from the Global Survey of Working Arrangements.
Canada recorded the highest average level of remote work at 1.7 days, while several Asian and Southern European countries remained below 1 day per week.
The overall pattern suggests that remote work adoption has stabilized globally, but national work culture, industry mix, and management practices continue shaping how common remote work remains.
Canada Led the Global Remote Work Ranking
Canada posted the highest average work-from-home level in the chart at 1.7 days per week.
The United Kingdom followed at 1.5 days, while the United States averaged 1.4 days.
Australia also remained relatively high at 1.3 days per week.
These countries generally have larger knowledge-based economies, higher concentrations of office work, and broader adoption of hybrid work arrangements after the pandemic.
They also tend to have stronger digital infrastructure and workplace flexibility norms that support long-term remote work.
Many Countries Stayed Near One Day or Less
Several countries clustered around 1.0 day per week, including the Netherlands, Germany, Finland, and New Zealand.
Others remained substantially lower.
Japan and Greece averaged roughly 0.5 days, while South Korea recorded only 0.4 days per week.
That means remote work in some countries remained less than one-third as common as in Canada.
The differences highlight how remote work adoption varies not only by technology access, but also by workplace expectations and management culture.
Why Remote Work Differs Across Countries
Industry composition plays a major role in remote work adoption.
Countries with larger finance, software, consulting, and professional services sectors generally support more work-from-home flexibility because those jobs can be performed digitally.
Meanwhile, economies with larger manufacturing, retail, hospitality, or in-person service sectors naturally have lower remote work capacity.
Cultural expectations also matter.
Some countries place stronger emphasis on in-office collaboration and physical workplace presence, which can reduce hybrid work adoption even when remote technology is available.
Hybrid Work Appears More Durable in English-Speaking Economies
One of the clearest patterns in the chart is the dominance of English-speaking economies near the top.
Canada, the UK, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand all ranked among the highest countries for remote work frequency.
This suggests hybrid work became more deeply embedded in labor markets where office-based professional work expanded rapidly during the pandemic period.
Many employers in these countries also faced stronger worker pressure to maintain flexibility after lockdowns ended.
What This Means for Workers
Remote work opportunities remain highly location-dependent.
Workers in countries with stronger hybrid adoption may have greater flexibility, reduced commuting time, and broader access to distributed job opportunities.
Meanwhile, workers in lower-WFH countries may continue facing more traditional office expectations even in digitally capable industries.
The chart also suggests that remote work has evolved from a temporary pandemic adjustment into a long-term structural difference between labor markets.
For many professionals, geography now plays a larger role in workplace flexibility than it did before 2020.
Dataset
Data Sources
WFH Research. (2023). Global Survey of Working Arrangements. https://wfhresearch.com/
WFH Research. (2023). Global Working From Home Research Project. https://wfhresearch.com/data/
Global Survey of Working Arrangements. (2023). Working from Home Around the World. https://bfi.uchicago.edu/working-paper/working-from-home-around-the-world/
