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Best Countries: Work & Self-Employment Abroad Ranking 2026

Ranking 229 countries by Work & Self-Employment Abroad. Compare scores and find the best destination based on this indicator.

#	Country	Score
1	Estonia	97.2
2	Denmark	96.5
3	Singapore	96.1
4	Norway	95.7
5	Sweden	95.1
6	Netherlands	94.8
7	Finland	94.6
8	Ireland	93.3
9	Luxembourg	91.4
10	New Zealand	91.4
11	Switzerland	91
12	Iceland	90.9
13	Monaco	90.7
14	Gibraltar	90.5
15	United Kingdom	89.2
16	Faroe Islands	89.1
17	Canada	89
18	Australia	88.9
19	Germany	88.6
20	Liechtenstein	88.6
21	Austria	87.5
22	Portugal	87.5
23	San Marino	86
24	France	86
25	Belgium	85.8
26	Latvia	85.5
27	Lithuania	85.5
28	Cayman Islands	85.2
29	Spain	85
30	Slovenia	84.9
31	Andorra	84.8
32	Malta	84.8
33	Czech Republic	83.4
34	Bermuda	83
35	United Arab Emirates	82.6
36	Hong Kong	82.5
37	Cyprus	82.3
38	Japan	82.2
39	United States	81.8
40	Greenland	81.6
41	Turks and Caicos Islands	81.3
42	British Virgin Islands	81
43	Georgia	80.2
44	Korea Republic	80
45	Slovakia	79.5
46	Anguilla	78.8
47	Croatia	78.6
48	Uruguay	78.6
49	Tahiti	78
50	Italy	77.8
51	Saint-Martin	77.5
52	Chile	77.2
53	Martinique	77.2
54	Chinese Taipei	77
55	Poland	76.9
56	Macau	76.9
57	Greece	76.8
58	Guadeloupe	76.7
59	Réunion	76.7
60	Romania	76.4
61	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	76.4
62	French Guiana	76.2
63	Aruba	76.2
64	Curacao	76
65	Montserrat	75.8
66	Barbados	75.7
67	Sint Maarten	75.6
68	Mauritius	75.5
69	Costa Rica	74.3
70	Puerto Rico	74.2
71	Cook Islands	73.9
72	New Caledonia	73.9
73	Hungary	73.9
74	Bulgaria	72.7
75	Guam	72.6
76	U.S. Virgin Islands	72.6
77	Panama	72
78	Niue	71.9
79	Mayotte	71.7
80	Northern Mariana Islands	71.1
81	Bahamas	70.3
82	American Samoa	70
83	Malaysia	69.9
84	Seychelles	69.6
85	North Macedonia	69.4
86	Antigua and Barbuda	68.4
87	Montenegro	68.2
88	Israel	68
89	Armenia	68
90	Saint Kitts and Nevis	67.8
91	Bahrain	67.8
92	Grenada	67.4
93	Dominica	67.1
94	Serbia	67
95	Qatar	67
96	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	66.7
97	Wallis and Futuna	66.2
98	Saint Lucia	65.9
99	Albania	65.9
100	Mexico	65.1
101	Brunei	64.8
102	Kosovo	64.4
103	Trinidad and Tobago	63.7
104	Moldova	63.4
105	Botswana	63.4
106	Cape Verde	63.1
107	Argentina	62.8
108	Kazakhstan	62.6
109	Oman	62.2
110	Jamaica	61.9
111	Samoa	61.4
112	Belize	61.2
113	Fiji	61
114	Turkey	61
115	Thailand	60.7
116	Rwanda	60.4
117	South Africa	60.3
118	Dominican Republic	60.2
119	Peru	60
120	Bosnia and Herzegovina	59.9
121	Colombia	59.8
122	Mongolia	59.4
123	Vanuatu	59.3
124	Palau	59
125	El Salvador	57.8
126	Nauru	57.7
127	Tonga	57.6
128	Tunisia	57.5
129	Azerbaijan	57.4
130	Brazil	57.1
131	Micronesia	57.1
132	Jordan	57.1
133	Morocco	56.7
134	Guyana	56.3
135	Namibia	56
136	Paraguay	55.9
137	Marshall Islands	55.7
138	Indonesia	55.6
139	Kuwait	55.3
140	Kyrgyzstan	55.3
141	Saudi Arabia	55
142	Guatemala	55
143	Ukraine	54.8
144	Philippines	54.7
145	Ecuador	54.5
146	Uzbekistan	54.3
147	Sri Lanka	53.9
148	Suriname	53.6
149	Maldives	53.6
150	Tuvalu	53.6
151	Honduras	52.6
152	Vietnam	52.2
153	Ghana	52.1
154	Kenya	51.7
155	Senegal	51.2
156	Cambodia	50.8
157	Benin	50.7
158	Kiribati	50.7
159	India	50.4
160	Bolivia	50.2
161	Solomon Islands	49.7
162	São Tomé and Príncipe	49.4
163	Nicaragua	49.2
164	Bhutan	49.1
165	Zambia	49.1
166	Swaziland	48.7
167	Tanzania	48.6
168	Ivory Coast	48.6
169	Egypt	47.7
170	Zanzibar	47.7
171	Lesotho	47.5
172	Togo	47.3
173	China	47.1
174	Belarus	46.9
175	Uganda	46.9
176	Djibouti	46.8
177	Madagascar	46.7
178	Malawi	46
179	Timor-Leste	45.9
180	Nepal	45.2
181	Russia	45
182	Tajikistan	44.1
183	Gambia	43.9
184	Laos	43.8
185	Gabon	43.3
186	Bangladesh	42.8
187	Mozambique	42.6
188	Algeria	42
189	Comoros	40.4
190	Pakistan	39.8
191	Papua New Guinea	39.6
192	Liberia	39.1
193	Burkina Faso	39.1
194	Nigeria	38
195	Guinea-Bissau	37.6
196	Guinea	37.1
197	Ethiopia	36.7
198	Lebanon	36.6
199	Mauritania	36.5
200	Sierra Leone	36
201	Cameroon	35.8
202	Zimbabwe	35.4
203	Congo	34.5
204	Mali	33.6
205	Angola	33.3
206	Iraq	32.7
207	Burundi	32.6
208	Niger	32.3
209	Palestine	31.5
210	Western Sahara	30.2
211	Haiti	26.7
212	Equatorial Guinea	26.4
213	Congo DR	25.8
214	Cuba	22.9
215	Chad	21.1
216	Myanmar	19
217	Iran	17.3
218	Libya	10.9
219	Venezuela	10.8
220	Central African Republic	10.7
221	Turkmenistan	8.6
222	Sudan	7.8
223	Yemen	6.2
224	Eritrea	6.1
225	Afghanistan	5.2
226	Syria	5.1
227	South Sudan	3.5
228	Somalia	1.5
229	Korea DPR	0.6

How the Work and Self-Employment Abroad Score Is Calculated

The overall score is a weighted average across six indicators. Nomadino calculates: work rights for foreigners × 0.25 + work permit access for foreigners × 0.20 + local self-employment and freelancing rights × 0.18 + employment restrictions for foreigners × 0.15 + professional qualification recognition × 0.12 + business ownership by foreigners × 0.10.

Work rights for foreigners: 25%
Work permit access for foreigners: 20%
Local self-employment and freelancing rights: 18%
Employment restrictions for foreigners: 15%
Professional qualification recognition: 12%
Business ownership by foreigners: 10%

This board measures whether foreigners can actually enter the local employment and self-employment structure of a country. General work rights and access to work permits receive the highest weights because they are the basic condition for legal economic activity.

Self-employment, employment restrictions, qualification recognition and business ownership add the practical layer. They keep a country from ranking too highly only because work is theoretically possible while sectors, professional rules, local-partner requirements or recognition procedures still limit access strongly.