Nearly half of Irish digital nomads took their jobs with them, choosing lifestyle over career progression

• 49% of Irish global citizens kept their job while moving abroad
• 44% were motivated by a desire to experience cultures, while 35% were seeking better weather
• Living internationally has allowed people to have a higher quality of living accommodation (34%), indulge in hobbies (32%) and dine out more (29%)

Dublin, 26, May 2026  - New data from bunq, Europe’s second largest neobank, reveals nearly half of Irish digital nomads (49%) never changed jobs when they moved abroad, exposing a quiet remote work revolution, driven by lifestyle, not money.  

The data, drawn from bunq's annual Global Living Report, a study into the human impact of global living, including 700 Irish adults living and working internationally, challenges the assumption that Irish people working abroad are chasing financial opportunities. The reality is more nuanced: Irish workers are rewriting the terms of employment from the inside, quietly shifting their lifestyle while keeping the same job (49%), and building a better life around it.

The report reframes one of the most persistent assumptions about Irish emigration - that leaving Ireland is financially motivated. When asked what motivated their move, 44% cited the desire to experience different cultures and 35% cited better weather. Lower cost of living was a factor for just 26%.

Despite finances not being the primary motivator, 80% surveyed report feeling either the same level of financial security or higher than before pursuing a global lifestyle and 58% say they are happier. The picture that emerges is of a generation measuring security not in climbing the corporate ladder, but in quality of life.

Beneath the lifestyle gains however, the data does reveal significant financial friction. 31% of Irish nomads have faced unexpected medical expenses abroad. 27% were caught out by housing-related costs such as deposits and agency fees. 25% were stung by data roaming charges, and 21% by banking fees they hadn't anticipated.

Language barriers topped the list of overall challenges at 39%, but financial friction - banking, budgeting, currency, and tax - featured consistently across every age group.

With 49% of Irish nomads keeping their existing job, the picture that emerges is one of an increasing normalisation of remote work extending beyond the border. This sees Irish workers living in one country while earning, spending, and banking across several, a situation which makes managing finances across multiple jurisdictions complex.

Joe Wilson, Chief Evangelist at bunq, said: "The Irish have long been shaped by exploring new worlds, today what we're seeing now is a more intentional shift. Digital nomads from Ireland are actively choosing lifestyles that prioritise flexibility, wellbeing, and financial confidence, even if it means being further from home."

^{bunq, Europe’s second-largest neobank, has rebuilt banking from the ground up. As the world’s first GenAI-powered bank, bunq’s proprietary AI powers every part of the business, from helping users with their finances, to being baked into bunq’s own operations. By developing a product rooted in its users’ wants and needs, bunq makes life easy for location-independent people and businesses, starting from the way they manage money: how they spend, save, budget and invest.}

^{Pioneering many things considered impossible, bunq was the first bank to get a greenfield European banking permit in over 35 years, raised the largest series A round ever secured by a European fintech (€193 million), and was the first EU neobank to achieve structural profitability. As part of its mission to build the first global neobank, bunq has also received its US broker-dealer license and applied for its US and Mexican banking license, with more global expansion to follow. Learn more: www.bunq.com}   

^{The survey was conducted by Pollfish on behalf of bunq in March 2026, with 7,100 respondents across 8 countries: France (1,000), Germany (1,000), Ireland (700), the Netherlands (700), Spain (1,000), the United Kingdom (1,000), Canada (700), and the United States (1,000).  The objective was to understand attitudes toward global lifestyles and the impact of global living on people’s welfare, careers, and relationships.}