Mumbai has entered IWG’s 2026 Work From Anywhere Index with a score of 77. The result places India’s financial capital ahead of London and Miami. Mumbai is also the only Indian city in the fourth annual edition. The ranking assesses global locations that support remote work during business trips, holidays or longer stays.
The index measures climate, broadband speed, accommodation, transport, food, culture and flexible workspace access. Mumbai gained its place through a mix of relatively affordable travel and available work locations.
Yet the assessment also identified weaker areas that may affect professionals who depend on fast internet and local activities. The index therefore treats a workcation destination as both a travel location and a temporary workplace. It does not assess tourism appeal alone.
Mumbai earned stronger marks for transport costs, climate, accommodation and the availability of coworking spaces. These factors can help remote workers manage daily travel, find short-term lodging and access a professional setting. The city also offers a broad public transport system, although the index focused specifically on transport costs within its scoring process.
Meanwhile, Mumbai received lower scores for broadband speed and quality, local events and the happiness index. Those results show that the city’s score did not depend on strength across every category. Instead, the final mark reflected its combined performance across practical work needs, travel costs and lifestyle measures.
Mumbai’s debut comes during further growth in India’s flexible office sector. Cushman & Wakefield gave India a score of 100 on its 2025 flexible workspace maturity index. The United Kingdom scored 98, France reached 97 and the United States recorded 81. The measure reviewed inventory, operators, leasing and flexible agreement structures.
India held 79.7 million square feet of flexible office stock across eight major cities in the second quarter of 2025. Mumbai accounted for 7.9 million square feet. The property firm expected India’s stock to pass 100 million square feet in 2026.
This office base gives travelling professionals more places to work outside company headquarters. Flexible offices represented 15% of new office leasing across India in 2024, according to the same property report.
Separate IWG research surveyed 2,000 hybrid office workers in the United Kingdom and United States from July 6 to July 9, 2026. Among respondents, 51% said their employer offered a Work From Anywhere policy.
In addition, 90% reported better work-life balance, while 80% reported improved productivity under such arrangements. Moreover, 62% said they would consider changing jobs for a better policy. Another 46% expected to work remotely during trips more often than in 2025.
The research found that 48% planned to extend a holiday or short break through remote work in 2026. Another 43% had already worked from a holiday destination without using annual leave. IWG founder Mark Dixon said, “We’re seeing more workers than ever extending their trips to work remotely.” The survey did not cover Indian workers, so its results cannot describe India’s workforce.
Bangkok led the 2026 index with 106.5 points. Tokyo followed with 96.5, while Barcelona placed third with 95.5. Porto and Vancouver completed the top five. Budapest, Naples, Medellin, Lisbon and Seoul filled the remaining top-ten positions. Mumbai did not enter that group, despite finishing above London and Miami.
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