Matching, or arguably, even surpassing the popularity of Europe and Asia, South America is now one of the world’s trendiest digital nomad hotspots.
Highly sought-after for its warm culture, hotter climate, and receptiveness to foreigners, it is witnessing a sharp increase in remote work trends as more nomads make the move South of the tropics, whether temporarily or permanently.
Though there is no shortage of incredible options to pick from, from the tropical Caribbean coast of Colombia to Brazil’s lesser-known Northeast, it’s another that’s been making headlines lately for both its accessibility and low cost of living.
The Nomad Capital Of South America
Argentina is the unofficial digital nomad capital of South America, with the city of Buenos Aires currently ranking as the top destination in the region for the category, as verified by resume-builder website Resume.io.
As the firm states, no other South American destination has registered as many impressions in the ‘digital nomad’ hashtag as Argentina, or more specifically, Buenos Aires has, bots excluded.
Digital nomads living abroad are known for being a tight-knit community, and they often share their experiences of being foreigners working remotely from another country in their social media profiles, which helps researchers assess how many of them are based in any specific area.
Though they are definitely more open to digital nomadism, many national governments do not yet fully track digital nomad trends, leaving us to rough estimates based on geotags in social networks such as Instagram and TikTok.
Either way, Buenos Aires and its parent country have risen to the number one spot this year, up from last year’s report.
Buenos Aires For The Win
Buenos Aires has been attracting millions of long-term visitors due to its well-established co-working culture. It has a plethora of work-friendly cafes and restaurants, as well as co-working spots where fast, reliable WiFi is readily available.
This is partly fueled by the city’s growing expat community and their rising demands – in order to rise up to the challenge of becoming a nomad hotspot, Argentina has had to modernize itself and open up migration routes for those interested – but also the country’s booming startup scene.
Other than being called the ‘Paris of the South’ due to its beautiful European-inspired architecture, Buenos Aires is one of South America’s economic capitals, home to numerous startup projects, and an incredibly exciting environment for young nomads and entrepreneurs to be in.
Argentina Is Incredibly Safe
Moving abroad, Americans in particular tend to handpick destinations based not only on the infrastructure available and size of the expat community, which often facilitates integration, and helps create a sense of belonging, but most importantly, safety.
Argentina is currently one of a handful of countries in the Global South to have attained a Level 1 certification from U.S. authorities.
This means the country ranks in the same list as Iceland, Finland, Croatia, and other hugely popular, traditionally-safe European destinations when it comes to security levels.
Buenos Aires, for instance, is a huge city home to over 15 million inhabitants, but its crime levels are drastically lower than most of its counterparts in the wider Mercosur and Mercosur-associated region, including Rio, in Brazil, and Medellin, in Colombia, both places where violence is skyrocketing.
Traveling to or relocating to Argentina, Americans are not even urged to exercise ‘greater caution’ when visiting. That’s not to say crime is non-existent:
Argentina is a developing country with developing world problems, and you should still avoid run-down areas in the suburbs and beware of pickpockets, but you do not need to maintain an extremely high level of situational awareness strolling central Buenos Aires as you would in, say, central Medellin.
The Second Cheapest Digital Nomad Destination
Additionally, nomads have been flocking to Argentina to benefit from its shockingly low cost of living and to stretch the value of their hard-earned dollars further.
You see, the peso is going through a particularly rough patch right now, trading at record lows against the dollar, and a couple of thousand bucks would probably get you by – or even allow you to live relatively comfortably – in many Argentinian cities, including Cordoba, La Plata, and Mendoza.
Buenos Aires is definitely more expensive, but even in the capital, prices are much lower than the U.S. average, with NomadList reporting an average of US$1776 per month is required to live and work remotely there.
Overall, it is the second cheapest digital nomad destination in the world, behind only Sri Lanka.
Digital Nomad Visa That’s Easy To Apply For
And then of course, there is the fact that Argentina has launched its very own Digital Nomad Visa, enabling nomads to set up a base in the country without resorting to a complicated visa-run or breaking immigration law.
In order to qualify, all nomads have to do is be able to demonstrate earnings of at least US$2,500 per month and that they originate from a foreign company not based in Argentina or other entrepreneurial projects that fit the same criteria.
As the average nomad would make anywhere between US$2,000 and US$3,000 per month, this makes Argentina one of the easiest and most accessible countries to work remotely from.
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