According to Statista, the number of coworking spaces worldwide surpassed 41,000 in 2024, nearly double the count from five years earlier. That growth is no longer concentrated in New York, London or Berlin. Cities like Nairobi, Medellín and Ho Chi Minh City now host thriving flex workspace ecosystems. If you operate a coworking space today, the market you compete in is global, whether you planned for that or not. 

Where Expansion is Actually Happening 

The biggest gains are showing up in regions that rarely made coworking headlines a few years ago. Southeast Asia saw a 27% year-over-year increase in flexible workspace inventory in 2023, driven by digital nomad visa programs in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. Latin America is following a similar curve. Mexico City alone added over 150 new coworking locations between 2022 and 2024, according to data from Coworker. 

This is not just about cheap rent. Governments in these regions actively court remote workers with tax incentives and residency fast-tracks. That policy shift creates demand that local operators can capture – if they are ready. 

The Opportunities are Real but Specific 

Going global does not have to mean opening a second location in another country. For many operators it means attracting international members who land in their city for three months at a time. It means accepting bookings in multiple currencies. It means showing up on platforms where traveling professionals search for desks. 

Some operators partner with global networks like the Global Workspace Association to cross-refer members. Others list inventory on aggregator platforms to pull in short-term international bookings without a sales team. 

The revenue upside is concrete. Short-term international members typically pay day rates or weekly rates that carry higher per-desk margins than long-term local memberships. 

Challenges That Slow Operators Down 

Billing across borders introduces real complexity. Currency conversion, VAT obligations in the EU and sales tax rules that differ by US state are all issues stack up fast when your member base spans multiple countries. 

Then there is the operational side. A member in São Paulo expects a WhatsApp-first communication style. A member in Tokyo expects precise booking confirmations with zero ambiguity. Running a single playbook across diverse markets creates gaps in member experience. 

Language is another practical barrier. Signage, onboarding emails, house rules, invoices – translating these materials takes time and budget that lean teams rarely have on hand. 

How Yardi Kube Helps Operators Manage Global Complexity 

Yardi Kube coworking software handles multi-currency billing and automates tax calculations based on member location, which removes the manual work that bogs down cross-border invoicing. Operators can configure booking confirmations and member communications in multiple languages from a single dashboard. The platform also centralizes license agreements across locations, so you are not toggling between spreadsheets and regional templates. 

If your growth plan includes international members, or even a second location in a new market, you can explore how Yardi Kube supports multi-site coworking operations by scheduling a demo. 

Bottom Line 

The coworking industry’s center of gravity is shifting. Operators who treat globalization as a distant trend risk losing members to competitors who already accommodate international professionals with flexible billing, localized communications and cross-network partnerships. The opportunity is not theoretical. It is sitting in your pipeline right now, in the form of a remote worker from Lisbon or a startup team relocating from Seoul. The question is whether your operations are ready to serve them.