UK ISP Plusnet Finds the Netherlands is Best for Remote Working

A new study from UK broadband provider Plusnet has run the 20 most populous EU countries through ten varied ranking factors in order to find out which of them best meets the demands of remote workers in 2019. The outcome sees the Netherlands coming top, with the United Kingdom placing 4th.

One of the good things about all those many improvements to modern internet connectivity over the past decade is that remote working away from the office has become a lot easier. In fact it means that you don’t even have to stick to the country where your business is based, although not all countries are equal and finding the best ones can be difficult.

Plusnet’s study appears to have reached an answer to this question by analysing data on a variety of different ranking factors from various publicly available studies. As such each country was given a rank based on an analysis of the following factors. Curiously though they don’t appear to have considered the coverage and performance of 4G, which thanks to free mobile roaming can often be more useful and secure than WiFi hotspots.

Ranking Factors for Remote Working
Percentage of people currently in remote work
Number of co-working spaces
Number of coffee shops
Average price of coffee
Number of Wi-Fi hotspots
Internet security score
EU Commission Transport score
Happiness Index score
Rent Index score
Cost of living

Overall the Netherlands came out top and unsurprisingly it has the highest rate of people in remote work (13.7%). The country’s highlights include a 1st place score for transport, an internet security rank of 2nd and they came 3rd overall for Wi-Fi hotspots. You’ll also find plenty of coffee shops (3rd) and they’re 3rd on the Happiness Index. The downside is that the cost of living in the Netherlands is high.

By comparison the UK placed fourth and apparently our strengths were in the number of coffee shops we have (1st), the cost of living (2nd) and the total number of Wi-Fi hotspots (2nd). The UK was also found to have the 2nd most co-working spaces and a “reasonably secure internet infrastructure” (8th).

However Plusnet noted that only 4% of the UK workforce actually works remotely (14th), while the country also suffers from high rent (17th) and coffee prices (17th).

The Top 10 Countries for Remote Working
1. Netherlands
2. Germany
3. Spain
4. UK
5. Poland
6. France
7. Sweden
8. Austria
9. Denmark
10. Czech Republic

The full report can be found on Plusnet’s community page, although they only seem to give a top ten and haven’t published a ranking for all the countries they surveyed.