## Clarification Note on the Treatment of Digital Nomads

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Clarification Note on the Treatment of Digital Nomads](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/data/statistics/bpm6/implementation-support/treatment-digital-nomads-cn.pdf)

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---

### INTRODUCTION
- Defines digital nomads as individuals who engage in remote work through digital technologies while frequently relocating across international borders.
- Notes that the digital nomad lifestyle gained substantial relevance during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and has persisted as remote work continued to grow.
- Identifies key statistical challenge: determining residency status under BPM7 and SNA2025, where residency is defined by the "center of predominant economic interest" (BPM7/SNA2025) and an institutional unit can be a resident of only one economic territory (BPM7 §4.13; SNA2025 §5.1 6).

### DEFINITION OF DIGITAL NOMADS
- Digital nomads:
  - perform location-independent work using digital devices while maintaining high mobility and strong professional focus during travel (paragraph 3);
  - rely on reliable and fast internet connections;
  - operate with high employment independence, often outside traditional employer-employee structures (footnote 2);
  - frequently change locations, sometimes several times a year (footnote 3);
  - intentionally avoid establishing permanent residency and typically do not own homes in economies they stay in;
  - usually hold a "strong passport" permitting easier travel (footnote 4).
- Distinctions from other mobile individuals:
  - Unlike business travelers, digital nomads do not intend to return to their country of origin upon completion of a work assignment (paragraph 4).
  - Unlike foreign workers residing in one country for extended periods, digital nomads tend to move from one country to another and often work on a project or freelance basis (paragraph 4).
- Recommendation: apply the same macroeconomic statistical approach to similar non-working nomadic groups (e.g., retirees or wealthy individuals adopting nomadic lifestyles), where relevant (paragraph 5).

### QUESTION OF RESIDENCY OF DIGITAL NOMADS
- Frameworks:
  - BPM7 and SNA2025 define residence as the economic territory with which the unit has the strongest connection—its center of predominant economic interest (BPM7/SNA2025; paragraph 6).
  - Conventionally, a stay abroad exceeding one year changes the center of predominant economic interest and makes the individual a resident of the host economy (BPM7 §4.15(a); SNA2025 §5.1 8(a); paragraph 7).
  - Exceptions to the one-year rule exist for students, medical patients, diplomats, etc. (paragraph 7).
  - For individuals with strong ties to more than one economy, residency determination uses the location of their dwelling or the household’s dwelling, and the center of predominant economic interest (BPM7 §4.202; SNA2025 §5.2 63 and §5.2 64; paragraph 8).
- Practical complexity:
  - Digital nomads often avoid establishing permanent residency and commonly maintain connections with at least two countries: country of origin (citizenship) and countries of temporary residence (paragraph 9).
  - How transactions are recorded depends on the residency classification of the digital nomad (paragraph 9).

### POSSIBLE SCENARIOS OF DIGITAL NOMADS’ RESIDENCY
- Three broad categories (paragraph 10):
  - Digital nomads who primarily reside in one host economy, occasionally entering other economies solely to meet visa/permit requirements.
  - Digital nomads who alternate between up to three economies.
  - Digital nomads with high mobility relocating across four or more economies within a one-year period.

- Scenario A: Primarily reside in a single host economy (paragraph 11)
  - Apply the one-year rule: consider resident of the host economy if intent is to stay over one year, even if temporarily exiting and re-entering to reset permitted stay.
  - Applies to those permitted to remain without a visa for limited periods (e.g., 30 or 60 days) or those requiring a visa (including digital nomad visas) if stay exceeds one year (footnote 5).
  - If stay is less than one year and the individual exits without returning, classify as nonresident of the host economy.

- Scenario B: Alternate between up to three economies (paragraph 12)
  - Determine residence based on territory where the predominant amount of time is spent during the year, consistent with BPM7 §4.209 and SNA2025 §5.2 46:
    - If no continuous actual or intended presence in any one territory for one year, the territory of the principal dwelling is key.
    - If no principal dwelling or multiple principal dwellings, use the territory where the predominant amount of time is spent in the year.

- Scenario C: High mobility across four or more economies within one year (paragraph 13)
  - When information indicates economic ties with a specific country, attribute residency to that economy (examples: country of employer; country where income taxes are paid).
  - If such indicators are unavailable, assign residency based on country of citizenship or nationality, analogous to treatment of ship’s or aircraft crew under BPM7 (§4.205) and SNA2025 (§5.2 60).
  - For dual citizenship, recommended to assign residency based on the passport used for border crossings (footnote 7).
  - Rationale: BPM7/SNA2025 require a single economy of residence and digital nomads maintain ongoing connection at least with their country of citizenship (footnote 8).

- Practical tool:
  - A decision tree has been developed and included in the Annex to guide residency determination in specific cases (paragraph 14).

### EXAMPLES OF SELECTED TRANSACTIONS AND POSITIONS IN EXTERNAL SECTOR STATISTICS
- Illustrates BOP/IIP recording differences depending on whether digital nomad is resident in:
  - Country of digital nomad’s citizenship (Case 1), or
  - Host economy (Case 2).
- Illustrative items include:
  - Services: Travel (business travel) — travel debits/expenditures and travel credits/revenues depending on residence and place of stay.
  - Service rendered by digital nomad — credits/revenues for computer/professional/technical/consultancy services recorded in the economy receiving the service; corresponding debits/expenditures recorded in consuming economy.
  - Earned income:
    - Investment income — recorded as credits/revenues or debits/expenditures depending on location of investments (host country, country of citizenship, or 3rd country).
    - Remuneration of employees — recorded as remuneration credits/revenues or debits/expenditures only in cases where a digital nomad is in an employer-employee relationship; note that if the employer is from the host country, this may constitute local remote work rather than digital nomadism.
  - Transfer income: personal transfers — credits/revenues and debits/expenditures depend on direction of transfers (to/from country of citizenship, host country, or 3rd country).
  - Financial account entries:
    - Direct investment (DI), Portfolio investment (PI), Other investment (OI) — classification of DI/PI/OI assets and liabilities depends on where real estate, securities, or bank deposits are located (host country, country of citizenship, or 3rd country).
- Note: The matrix in the source maps these items across BOP/IIP of country of citizenship, host country, and 3rd country to illustrate recording outcomes under different residency assignments.

### POSSIBLE DATA SOURCES AND TARGETED SURVEYS
- Identification sources:
  - Administrative data, specialized surveys, and websites dedicated to digital nomadism can be used to identify digital nomads (paragraph 15).
  - Where specialized digital nomad visa programs exist, compilers may engage with immigration authorities or ministries of internal affairs to obtain:
    - number of digital nomad visas issued;
    - information on characteristics of visa holders;
    - duration of stay in the host economy (paragraph 15).
- Recommended survey actions:
  - Launch a specialized survey for digital nomads or adapt existing surveys where digital nomadism is particularly relevant.
  - Enhance travel surveys by refining questions related to the purpose of stay to include options such as “leisure and work using digital devices” or “digital nomadism”.
  - Modify household surveys to include questions about family members residing outside the primary dwelling and engaging in remote work as digital nomads.
  - Incorporate questions in business surveys for entrepreneurs, small business owners, or self-employed persons who adopt a digital nomad lifestyle on work models, such as “remote work from abroad”.
  - Add questions to cross-border services surveys to determine whether services were received from a digital nomad, e.g., “Was the service provided by a digital nomad?”.

- Dedicated websites cited (footnote 9):
  - https://nomads.com/
  - https://digitalnomads.world/
  - https://nomadbase.com/
  - https://www.workingnomads.com/jobs
  - https://www.mbopartners.com/state-of-independence/digital-nomads/
  - https://tournami.com/digital-nomad-hotspots-where-to-live-work-in-2025/

### CAUTION WITH ITRS, CREDIT CARD REPORTS, AND REMITTANCES
- Risks in administrative payment data:
  - Digital nomads who are considered residents of the host economy may conduct transactions using bank accounts held abroad or credit cards issued by nonresident banks.
  - Such transactions, although executed within the host economy, may appear as cross-border flows in ITRS or credit card reports and should be reclassified as resident-to-resident transactions to ensure accurate treatment.
- Remittances:
  - Remittance estimation models should be adjusted to account for potential outflows from digital nomads residing in the host economy who use accounts abroad to transfer funds to family or friends in their country of citizenship or third countries.

### BILATERAL COOPERATION AND REROUTING OF TRANSACTIONS
- Because digital nomadism involves activities across multiple economies, enhanced cooperation between compilers is encouraged to address bilateral data asymmetries and harmonize treatment of digital nomads.
- Recommendations:
  - Share and use bilateral data where feasible.
  - Where digital nomads are classified as residents of their country of citizenship while residing in several host economies and simultaneously providing services to a third economy, apply partner economy rerouting of service transactions for accurate recording.
  - Coordinate efforts among compilers in the affected economies.

### GLOBAL CONSULTATION QUESTIONS
- The clarification note solicits input via the following questions:
  1. Do you have comments on the definition of digital nomads and guidance provided in this clarification note?
  2. Do you agree with the proposed approach to the treatment of digital nomads in macroeconomic statistics?
  3. Are you currently collecting data for digital nomads? If yes, what are the data sources that are used?
  4. Do you have any additional examples that should be incorporated into the decision tree or this clarification note?

### ANNEX: DECISION TREE FOR DETERMINING DIGITAL NOMAD’S ECONOMY OF RESIDENCY
- Decision logic summarized:
  - Is a digital nomad predominantly residing in a single economy?
    - Yes: Residency is assigned to the economy in which the digital nomad resides (Scenario A).
    - No: Does the digital nomad alternate between up to three economies within a year?
      - If No: Is the digital nomad self-employed?
        - If No: Residency is assigned to the economy in which the digital nomad predominantly resides (Scenario B).
        - If Yes: Residency is assigned to the economy in which the digital nomad’s employer is located (Scenario C).
      - If Yes: Is the digital nomad paying income taxes in any economy?
        - If Yes: Residency is assigned to the economy in which the digital nomad predominantly pays income taxes.
        - If No: Residency is assigned to the digital nomad’s economy of citizenship (or nationality).

*The IMF clarification note on the treatment of digital nomads in macroeconomic statistics.*

### Section 1

### Clarification Note on the Treatment of Digital Nomads

### INTRODUCTION
- Defines digital nomads as individuals who engage in remote work through digital technologies while frequently relocating across international borders.
- Notes that the digital nomad lifestyle gained substantial relevance during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and has persisted as remote work continued to grow.
- Identifies key statistical challenge: determining residency status under BPM7 and SNA2025, where residency is defined by the "center of predominant economic interest" (BPM7/SNA2025) and an institutional unit can be a resident of only one economic territory (BPM7 §4.13; SNA2025 §5.1 6).

### DEFINITION OF DIGITAL NOMADS
- Digital nomads:
  - perform location-independent work using digital devices while maintaining high mobility and strong professional focus during travel (paragraph 3);
  - rely on reliable and fast internet connections;
  - operate with high employment independence, often outside traditional employer-employee structures (footnote 2);
  - frequently change locations, sometimes several times a year (footnote 3);
  - intentionally avoid establishing permanent residency and typically do not own homes in economies they stay in;
  - usually hold a "strong passport" permitting easier travel (footnote 4).
- Distinctions from other mobile individuals:
  - Unlike business travelers, digital nomads do not intend to return to their country of origin upon completion of a work assignment (paragraph 4).
  - Unlike foreign workers residing in one country for extended periods, digital nomads tend to move from one country to another and often work on a project or freelance basis (paragraph 4).
- Recommendation: apply the same macroeconomic statistical approach to similar non-working nomadic groups (e.g., retirees or wealthy individuals adopting nomadic lifestyles), where relevant (paragraph 5).

### QUESTION OF RESIDENCY OF DIGITAL NOMADS
- Frameworks:
  - BPM7 and SNA2025 define residence as the economic territory with which the unit has the strongest connection—its center of predominant economic interest (BPM7/SNA2025; paragraph 6).
  - Conventionally, a stay abroad exceeding one year changes the center of predominant economic interest and makes the individual a resident of the host economy (BPM7 §4.15(a); SNA2025 §5.1 8(a); paragraph 7).
  - Exceptions to the one-year rule exist for students, medical patients, diplomats, etc. (paragraph 7).
  - For individuals with strong ties to more than one economy, residency determination uses the location of their dwelling or the household’s dwelling, and the center of predominant economic interest (BPM7 §4.202; SNA2025 §5.2 63 and §5.2 64; paragraph 8).
- Practical complexity:
  - Digital nomads often avoid establishing permanent residency and commonly maintain connections with at least two countries: country of origin (citizenship) and countries of temporary residence (paragraph 9).
  - How transactions are recorded depends on the residency classification of the digital nomad (paragraph 9).

### POSSIBLE SCENARIOS OF DIGITAL NOMADS’ RESIDENCY
- Three broad categories (paragraph 10):
  - Digital nomads who primarily reside in one host economy, occasionally entering other economies solely to meet visa/permit requirements.
  - Digital nomads who alternate between up to three economies.
  - Digital nomads with high mobility relocating across four or more economies within a one-year period.

- Scenario A: Primarily reside in a single host economy (paragraph 11)
  - Apply the one-year rule: consider resident of the host economy if intent is to stay over one year, even if temporarily exiting and re-entering to reset permitted stay.
  - Applies to those permitted to remain without a visa for limited periods (e.g., 30 or 60 days) or those requiring a visa (including digital nomad visas) if stay exceeds one year (footnote 5).
  - If stay is less than one year and the individual exits without returning, classify as nonresident of the host economy.

- Scenario B: Alternate between up to three economies (paragraph 12)
  - Determine residence based on territory where the predominant amount of time is spent during the year, consistent with BPM7 §4.209 and SNA2025 §5.2 46:
    - If no continuous actual or intended presence in any one territory for one year, the territory of the principal dwelling is key.
    - If no principal dwelling or multiple principal dwellings, use the territory where the predominant amount of time is spent in the year.

- Scenario C: High mobility across four or more economies within one year (paragraph 13)
  - When information indicates economic ties with a specific country, attribute residency to that economy (examples: country of employer; country where income taxes are paid).
  - If such indicators are unavailable, assign residency based on country of citizenship or nationality, analogous to treatment of ship’s or aircraft crew under BPM7 (§4.205) and SNA2025 (§5.2 60).
  - For dual citizenship, recommended to assign residency based on the passport used for border crossings (footnote 7).
  - Rationale: BPM7/SNA2025 require a single economy of residence and digital nomads maintain ongoing connection at least with their country of citizenship (footnote 8).

- Practical tool:
  - A decision tree has been developed and included in the Annex to guide residency determination in specific cases (paragraph 14).

### EXAMPLES OF SELECTED TRANSACTIONS AND POSITIONS IN EXTERNAL SECTOR STATISTICS
- Provides illustrative BOP/IIP recording differences depending on whether digital nomad is resident in:
  - Country of digital nomad’s citizenship (Case 1), or
  - Host economy (Case 2).
- Illustrative items include:
  - Services: Travel (business travel) — travel debits/expenditures and travel credits/revenues depending on residence and place of stay.
  - Service rendered by digital nomad — credits/revenues for computer/professional/technical/consultancy services recorded in the economy receiving the service; corresponding debits/expenditures recorded in consuming economy.
  - Earned income:
    - Investment income — recorded as credits/revenues or debits/expenditures depending on location of investments (host country, country of citizenship, or 3rd country).
    - Remuneration of employees — recorded as remuneration credits/revenues or debits/expenditures only in cases where a digital nomad is in an employer-employee relationship; note that if the employer is from the host country, this may constitute local remote work rather than digital nomadism.
  - Transfer income: personal transfers — credits/revenues and debits/expenditures depend on direction of transfers (to/from country of citizenship, host country, or 3rd country).
  - Financial account entries:
    - Direct investment (DI), Portfolio investment (PI), Other investment (OI) — classification of DI/PI/OI assets and liabilities depends on where real estate, securities, or bank deposits are located (host country, country of citizenship, or 3rd country).
- Note: The matrix in the source maps these items across BOP/IIP of country of citizenship, host country, and 3rd country to illustrate recording outcomes under different residency assignments.

### POSSIBLE DATA SOURCES
- Compilers may use administrative data, specialized surveys, and websites dedicated to digital nomadism to identify digital nomads (paragraph 15).
- Where specialized digital nomad visa programs exist (example countries listed: Thailand, Portugal, Estonia, etc.), compilers may engage with immigration authorities or ministries of internal affairs to obtain:
  - number of digital nomad visas issued;
  - information on characteristics of visa holders;
  - duration of stay in the host economy (paragraph 15).

*Inter-secretariat Working Group on National Accounts — Clarification Note on the Treatment of Digital Nomads (BPM7/2025 SNA) for Global Consultation*

### Section 2

### Treatment of Digital Nomads — Section 2

### Data sources and targeted surveys
- The clarification note highlights that dedicated websites provide insights into digital nomad characteristics and identify specific locations recognized as digital nomad hubs, which can assist compilers in narrowing their focus to particular locations when estimating the potential number of digital nomads.
- Recommended survey actions:
  - Launch a specialized survey for digital nomads or adapt existing surveys where digital nomadism is particularly relevant.
  - Enhance travel surveys by refining questions related to the purpose of stay to include options such as “leisure and work using digital devices” or “digital nomadism”.
  - Modify household surveys to include questions about family members residing outside the primary dwelling and engaging in remote work as digital nomads.
  - Incorporate questions in business surveys for entrepreneurs, small business owners, or self-employed persons who adopt a digital nomad lifestyle on work models, such as “remote work from abroad”.
  - Add questions to cross-border services surveys to determine whether services were received from a digital nomad, e.g., “Was the service provided by a digital nomad?”.

- Dedicated websites cited (footnote 9):
  - https://nomads.com/
  - https://digitalnomads.world/
  - https://nomadbase.com/
  - https://www.workingnomads.com/jobs
  - https://www.mbopartners.com/state-of-independence/digital-nomads/
  - https://tournami.com/digital-nomad-hotspots-where-to-live-work-in-2025/

### Caution with ITRS and credit card reports
- The clarification note warns compilers using the International Transactions Reporting System (ITRS) or credit card reports as primary or supplementary data sources to exercise particular caution because:
  - Digital nomads who are considered residents of the host economy may conduct transactions using bank accounts held abroad or credit cards issued by nonresident banks.
  - Such transactions, although executed within the host economy, may appear as cross-border flows in these data sources and should be reclassified as resident-to-resident transactions to ensure accurate treatment.
- Remittances:
  - Remittance estimation models should be adjusted to account for potential outflows from digital nomads residing in the host economy who use accounts abroad to transfer funds to family or friends in their country of citizenship or third countries.

### Bilateral cooperation and rerouting of transactions
- Because digital nomadism involves activities across multiple economies, the clarification note encourages sharing and use of bilateral data where feasible.
- Key recommendations:
  - Enhanced cooperation between compilers to address bilateral data asymmetries and harmonize treatment of digital nomads.
  - Where digital nomads are classified as residents of their country of citizenship while residing in several host economies and simultaneously providing services to a third economy, partner economy rerouting of service transactions is necessary for accurate recording.
  - Coordinated efforts among compilers in the affected economies are strongly recommended.

### Global consultation questions
- The clarification note solicits input via the following questions:
  1. Do you have comments on the definition of digital nomads and guidance provided in this clarification note?
  2. Do you agree with the proposed approach to the treatment of digital nomads in macroeconomic statistics?
  3. Are you currently collecting data for digital nomads? If yes, what are the data sources that are used?
  4. Do you have any additional examples that should be incorporated into the decision tree or this clarification note?

### Annex: Decision tree for determining digital nomad’s economy of residency
- Decision logic summarized:
  - Is a digital nomad predominantly residing in a single economy?
    - Yes: Residency is assigned to the economy in which the digital nomad resides (Scenario A).
    - No: Does the digital nomad alternate between up to three economies within a year?
      - If No: Is the digital nomad self-employed?
        - If No: Residency is assigned to the economy in which the digital nomad predominantly resides (Scenario B).
        - If Yes: Residency is assigned to the economy in which the digital nomad’s employer is located (Scenario C).
      - If Yes: Is the digital nomad paying income taxes in any economy?
        - If Yes: Residency is assigned to the economy in which the digital nomad predominantly pays income taxes.
        - If No: Residency is assigned to the digital nomad’s economy of citizenship (or nationality).

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/data/statistics/bpm6/implementation-support/treatment-digital-nomads-cn.pdf_