There Will Be 1 Billion Digital Nomads By 2035 with Pieter Levels

By 2035, Pieter Levels predicts a world where roughly half of working-age people are freelancers and about 1 billion people function as digital nomads—enabled by faster mobile networks, cheaper global travel, and a shift away from long-term “ownership” lifestyles. The practical impact is a labor market and consumer economy built around remote work, short stays, and flexible living rather than stable jobs, marriage-centered households, and decades-long mortgages.

Levels ties the rise of digital nomadism to three big forces. First is connectivity: internet speeds are expected to move from around 100 megabits per second to 10–100 gigabits per second, with 6G making high-speed access effectively ubiquitous on smartphones. That speed change matters because it turns everyday tasks—backups, photo storage, and work—into something that can be done anywhere, not just at home or in an office. Second is mobility: flight prices between major cities are projected to keep falling, and new aircraft could cut travel times dramatically (for example, flying to London in about half an hour rather than two hours, and to Shanghai in about four hours). Levels uses these trends to paint a future where people can hop between cities for meetings or even a day trip.

Third is social structure and housing. Levels points to declining marriage rates in the West, arguing that fewer marriages reduce the traditional pathway to home ownership—marriage often pairs with buying a house and locking into a mortgage for 30–40 years. He claims home ownership is increasingly concentrated among the wealthy and older generations, while younger adults prioritize flexibility. In that environment, “ownership” becomes less central: people rely on renting, Airbnb, hotels, and buying ready-made food rather than cooking at home.

From those changes, Levels sketches a lifestyle pipeline. Many people start by working from home, then spend time in cafés while traveling becomes easier and cheaper, eventually moving through a gradual “nomad” transition—visiting family, trying new locations, and settling into hubs like Bali. He then projects workforce scale: with about 9 billion people globally and roughly 6 billion working-age, he estimates 50% freelancers (about 3 billion), and then about one in three remote workers/digital nomads—around 1 billion.

The economic ripple extends beyond individuals to cities. Levels argues that nomads will cluster in major global cities and also in smaller cities that are internationally connected, rather than towns that lack strong global ties. Governments and city administrations will compete for remote workers through taxes and incentives, creating cleaner, more livable urban environments. He highlights examples of purpose-built urban planning—such as a car-free, fiber-connected, public-transport-focused city in China designed for completion around 2030.

Education and family life also get rethought. With constant travel, homeschooling is expected to rise, and online platforms like edX are framed as a way to access university-level courses while supplementing with local study groups. Levels closes by promoting Nomad List, a tool for choosing destinations based on preferences, and calls on builders to create housing, banking, and other services for a “remote generation,” positioning early nomads as an advantage for identifying problems before they become mainstream.