Tiny Bansko, Bulgaria, as a Proxy for Global Digital Nomads

A festival in an Eastern European mountain town gives us a clue as to which nations are producing digital nomads, or at least in that region of the world.

The week-long Bansko Nomad Fest is currently taking place in the small town located in south-west Bulgaria. The area's better known by skiers for its affordable pistes and powder, but this event has been running for three years and is now hosting 500 digital nomads from 41 different countries.

The festival organizers shared a breakdown (below) of the nationalities attending, and Americans make up the biggest proportion.

For a country that’s wary of traveling to Europe due to concerns about the war in Ukraine, it’s surprising. After all, Bulgaria is just one country away from the war-torn nation, with Romania sitting in between.

But organizers said some U.S. citizens were already staying in Europe, and others couldn't visit Europe due to Covid for a long time, so couldn't wait to get over.

But the fact is that digital nomads from the U.S. tend to represent the lion’s share of globetrotting workers in Eastern Europe, compared to other nations. Most digital nomads come from high income countries with strong passports, and the U.S. clearly has the highest population.

At the festival, which runs until July 3, they are also mostly entrepreneurs and have their own companies, rather than remote workers.