Altitude Futures analysed gap year job listings around the world to find the countries that offer the most opportunities for those taking a year out.
The top 15 countries with the most jobs available were:
- United States (131)
- Australia (66)
- China (64)
- Spain (63)
- France (53)
- South Africa (50)
- Costa Rica (49)
- Canada (48)
- Thailand (42)
- New Zealand (40)
- India (38)
- Ecuador (35)
- Peru (32)
- Nepal (30)
- Chile (25)
The most common roles available to students taking gap years across the world were also revealed.
Altitude Futures found that the top job opportunity available was adventure travel, making up 465 of the 1419 roles available across the world.
The top 15 jobs and the number of roles available were:
- Adventure travel (465)
- Cultural immersion (350)
- Hands-on learning (335)
- Post high school (262)
- Volunteer abroad (258)
- Language immersion (230)
- After college (178)
- Au Pair (135)
- Teach abroad (103)
- Conservation (71)
- Sports coaching (66)
- Instructor (53)
- Ski snowboard instructor (44)
- Arts (43)
- Religious (40)
They also explored the languages that are most required for those wishing to take a gap year job which included English (368), Spanish (28), Chinese (9), Japanese (3) and Italian (3).
Jon West, Altitude Futures Director said: “We’re so happy to see students are looking at deferring their courses and taking a gap year as there are so many benefits such as experiencing a different culture and developing new life skills.
“We’re hardly surprised to see that the top five countries students decide to visit for their gap year are the US, Australia, China, Spain and France as these are all countries that are also popular with tourists.
“We’re hoping to see more people wanting to explore their options for taking a gap year because yes it will look good on the CV and University application, but it also allows you to potentially travel the world or make an impact for the greater good!”