The global payment platform Nebeus conducted a study to delve into the landscape of freelancers. México, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela have much more actively engaged freelancers than the rest.
What do Latin American freelancers specialize in? How much do they charge? Are they more affordable than their European counterparts? Do they receive better reviews than freelancers from Southeast Asia, renowned for their exceptional freelancing skills?
All these questions are addressed in a study by The global payment platform Nebeus, offering a comprehensive exploration of the state of freelancing in Latin America and its comparison with global trends.
Argentina emerges as the leading country in Latin America for freelancers, ranking second globally in both total number and per capita. Notably, they boast the highest average rating of 4.97 among all Latin American freelancers.
Evidently aware of their expertise, Argentine freelancers command premium rates, positioning themselves as the most expensive in the region with an average hourly rate of $25. This rate surpasses that of some regional counterparts by more than double, yet remains half the price of freelancers in the United States or the United Kingdom.
Compared to the rest, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela have much more actively engaged freelancers than the rest, receiving requests, completing projects and being consistently online.
Countries like Paraguay, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, and Bolivia exhibit relatively low activity percentages. While the few active freelancers excel in certain areas, they hold little significance on the continental stage.
Competitive prices for high-quality work
On average, Latin Americans began entering the freelance world in the year 2020, less than 4 years ago. The most experienced ones are Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela, that joined in 2017-
While Latin Americans entered the freelance arena a bit later, they have become strong competitors, offering competitive prices for high-quality work. The most popular categories are: design, computer science, administrative and data entry professionals, and content writers.
The average hourly rate for graphic designers in Latin America is $16, with Mexico having the highest rate at $24. If you’re looking for affordable graphic design services, Bolivia offers the lowest rate in Latin America: $10 per hour.
Compared to the rest of the world, graphic designers in Latin America have lower rates. Most countries outside Latin America have an average rate of $20 per hour, with the United States charging the most at $40.
Overall, Latin American graphic designers receive high ratings, mostly above 4.9. Nicaragua ranks highest with an average score of 5, while Costa Rica has the lowest score, though still high at 4.82.
IT professionals account for 30% of all freelancers. Most of them, 24.6%, are PHP Developers, followed by Javascript Developers (11.2%) and Website Designers (10.4%).
The highest concentration of IT freelancers is in Bolivia (40%), followed by Costa Rica (37%) and Uruguay (36%).
Overall, the proportion of IT freelancers in Latin America is higher than in other countries, behind only Indonesia (33%) and Pakistan (32%).
Rate-wise, you can find the cheapest in Bolivia and the most expensive in Argentina ($13 and $30 respectively).
The average rating of IT freelancers in Latin America is quite high at 4.93, with Guatemala on the podium (4.99) and Honduras in last place (4.88).
When it comes to admin professionals, responsible for organizing information in spreadsheets and databases, we see that prices in LATAM are significantly more affordable than in the rest of the world.
For example, Argentina has the highest prices at $43 per hour, but it doesn’t come close to the British costs of $100. The percentages of freelancers in this area are quite low both in LATAM and outside of LATAM. Certainly, we can infer that administrative roles are more challenging to execute remotely, and most businesses require an on-site employee for these tasks.
Finally, it came as a surprise that writers have low representation in the freelance world. In this category, language is crucial. Among Spanish-speaking countries,
Venezuelans emerge as the cheapest, and judging by their excellent reviews of 4.95, they are also the best writers in terms of quality-price ratio, although they only account for 4% of participation.
Native English speakers are considerably more expensive, with Britons being the priciest at $40 per hour.
In Brazil, the only Portuguese-speaking country on the list, only 2% of the top freelancers specialize in writing, and they charge only $7 per hour. Certainly, Portuguese content is not in as high demand in the online world as the popular Spanish and English languages.