The Ukrainian capital ranks 25th out of 30 of the world’s most comfortable cities for freelance workers, a recent ranking shows.
Kyiv received a score of 45.60 and took a place just below Belgrade and above Athens, according to British mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse. Austin, a city in the U.S. state of Texas, scored 65.18 points and was named the most comfortable. Chiang Mai, Thailand; Berlin and Barcelona are runners-up.
For the ranking, the Carphone Warehouse measured the employment rate, monthly wages, the availability of co-working spaces, commute dissatisfaction, internet speed, the cost of living index, the health care index, the leisure activities score and the quality of life index of the city. It gathered the data in April 2020.
According to the data, Kyiv is the fourth cheapest city for freelancers and has the same level of leisure activities as in 12 other cities, including Amsterdam, Montréal and Buenos Aires.
However, Ukraine’s capital has a low level of healthcare and a low employment rate.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for freelancers has risen. The Ukrainian online marketplace for freelancers Freelancehunt, for example, saw a spike in new orders in May. Before the quarantine it had 3,600-3,800 orders a week. Afterward, the number grew to 4,200-4,300.
