Remote work remains uneven across countries
Working from home has become a permanent part of the labor market, but adoption varies widely by country. The chart shows the average number of paid workdays employees spend working remotely per week in 2023.
The main pattern is clear. A small group of countries leads in remote work, while most others cluster around lower levels. The gap between top and bottom countries highlights how differently work-from-home is implemented globally.
Top performers in remote work
Canada stands out with the highest average at 1.7 days per week. This places it clearly ahead of all other countries in the dataset.
The UK follows at 1.5 days per week, with the United States close behind at 1.4 days per week. Australia also remains relatively high at 1.3 days per week. These countries form a clear top tier where hybrid work is firmly established.
At the other end, South Korea records just 0.4 days per week, the lowest in the chart. Japan and Greece are also low at 0.5 days per week, indicating limited adoption of remote work practices.
The middle of the distribution
Most countries fall within a narrow mid-range between 0.7 to 1.0 days per week. This includes economies such as Germany, the Netherlands, and Finland at around 1.0 day per week, and countries like Poland, Italy, and Norway closer to 0.7 days per week.
This clustering suggests that for many countries, remote work is present but not dominant. Employees typically work from home once a week or less.
Countries like Malaysia and France sit slightly lower at 0.6 days per week, showing moderate but not widespread adoption.
Why these differences exist
The variation largely reflects workplace culture, industry structure, and policy direction. Countries like Canada, the UK, and the US have higher shares of service-based and knowledge work, where remote setups are easier to implement.
In contrast, countries with stronger in-person work norms or manufacturing-heavy economies tend to show lower remote work levels. Organizational preferences and employer expectations also play a major role.
Infrastructure and digital readiness further influence how easily remote work can be adopted at scale.
What this means going forward
The data suggests that hybrid work is not universal. Even in leading countries, remote work averages fewer than two days per week.
For workers, this means flexibility depends heavily on location. Being in a country with strong remote work adoption can directly affect work-life balance and commuting patterns.
For employers and policymakers, the takeaway is clear. Remote work is now part of the global labor landscape, but its implementation remains uneven and shaped by local conditions.
Dataset
Data Sources
Global Survey of Working Arrangements (G-SWA). (2023). Working from home days per week dataset. https://wfhresearch.com/data/
