Which Country Has the World’s Best Programmers? Here are the Stats

The answer to “which country has the best programmers” depends entirely on how you measure it. Volume and skill are not the same thing, and the countries with the most developers are rarely the ones that score highest when tested. This article compiles data from HackerRank, SkillValue, Topcoder, SlashData, Evans Data Corporation, the IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking, and the State of European Tech 2025 to give a complete statistical picture.

How Many Software Developers Are There in the World in 2026?

According to SlashData’s 2025 Global Developer Population Report, the total global developer population reached approximately 47 million as of early 2025, combining professional and amateur developers. The professional segment alone stands at 36.5 million, up 70% from 21.8 million in 2022. Evans Data Corporation’s 2025 Worldwide Developer Population Report puts the figure at 28.7 million when counting only active professional developers, a difference explained by methodology and how “professional” is defined.

Growth has been significant but is starting to slow. The rate decelerated to 10% in the most recent 12-month period, compared to a 21% spike from 2023 to 2024 and 15% from 2022 to 2023.

Developer population by country (2026 estimates)

Europe total: Over 4.6 million IT professionals, according to the State of European Tech 2025.

Regional growth (2022–2025):

Source: SlashData Global Developer Population Report 2025.

China’s developer population has tripled in three years, driven by government investment in technical education and domestic platform growth. Latin America has doubled its developer base, with Brazil and Argentina accounting for a significant share. Western Europe and North America, by contrast, are growing slowly, which explains the sustained interest in remote hiring from faster-growing regions.

What Countries Have the Highest Concentration of Talented Programmers?

To figure out where the best developers in the world are concentrated, JetBrains researched where these highly skilled developers could be found. The results identified the top five countries with the strongest concentration of tech talent: China, the United States, India, Japan, and Brazil. 

This data primarily came from international labor organizations (such as Eurostat) and national statistics (for instance, Statistics Canada), so it’s safe to assume its reliability in capturing the full talent pool available in other regions like Eastern Europe or South America.

We gathered different sources to fully understand which countries have the best programmers and which regions are labeled as “promising” in terms of tech advancements, education, and infrastructure. 

And spoiler, no, the United States is not the best country to hire programmers, as many would’ve thought.

Coursera Global Skills Report 2025: Best Country is…

According to the Coursera Global Skills Report 2025, Switzerland is ranked as the top country globally for overall skill proficiency across the three domains of business, technology, and data science.

Specific highlights regarding top-performing countries and technical talent hubs include:

• Switzerland: Ranked #1 globally. It is identified as a “cutting-edge” innovation hub with the highest levels of skill proficiency.
• Singapore: Ranked #1 in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region across all competencies and first on the report’s AI Maturity Index.
• India: Now leads the world in Generative AI (GenAI) adoption, with the highest number of GenAI course enrollments globally.
• United States: Ranks #4 globally on the AI Maturity Index and has seen a 142% year-over-year increase in AI and Machine Learning Specialist roles.

While the report evaluates countries based on “Technology” and “Data Science” proficiency rather than using the specific term “best developers,” Switzerland holds the highest global ranking, followed by the Netherlands (#2), Sweden (#3), and Singapore (#4).

Global Programming Skill Rankings by Country

Three main data sources are used to benchmark developer skill globally: HackerRank’s developer challenges (testing algorithms, data structures, Java, Python, and 12 other domains), the SkillValue SaaS platform (500,000+ developer tests across 160 skills), and Topcoder’s competition leaderboard (1.7 million developers across 190 countries). No single ranking is complete, but together they give a consistent picture.

The most important finding across all three: the US and India, which most companies default to, rank below position 20 in most technical domains. The strongest developer talent per capita sits in Eastern Europe and parts of Asia.

Overall top countries by skill score

Note: India ranks 3rd on Topcoder by volume of top finishes, which reflects the size of its developer population rather than performance per capita.

Best countries by programming language

Different countries specialize in different areas. If you are hiring for a specific language or domain, this matters more than the overall ranking.

Source: HackerRank Developer Challenges, SkillValue 2024, State of European Tech 2025.

Which Region Has The Best Coders Worldwide?

HackerRank’s 2023 Developer Skills Report explored the regions that have had stronger growth and progress during the past years, focusing on 2023. 

According to the report, the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) and Latin America regions have shown stronger growth compared to other regions.

In 2020, all regions experienced a significant decline in performance. North America and APAC (Asia-Pacific) regions had a relatively milder decrease and a quicker recovery than Latin America and EMEA.

Both Latin America and EMEA had more pronounced declines and took longer to bounce back. However, in 2022, both regions surpassed the expected index level, indicating that they outperformed expectations.

Countries with The Best Coders

European countries scored excellent results, proving many talented developers. For example, Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic rank in the first ten positions of the HackerRank challenge. 

In Europe, you can find over 4.6 million IT professionals, according to the State of European Tech 2025. In the past few years, local governments invested in the IT market and tech education. 

For example, Zurich (in Switzerland) might be the most underestimated tech hub in Europe. The city is notable for its presence of thousands of Big Tech engineers, research hubs for companies like Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic, and the production of world-class talent by institutions such as ETH Zurich and EPFL. Zurich, in general, particularly excels in deep tech talent, with 18% of engineers in this sector holding a PhD, reflecting its academic leadership in AI. Here are other interesting countries according to the State of European Tech:

• Spain: World-class technology, where global talent flocks when the mission and tools are of excellence.
• Sweden: Sweden is in a growing momentum in the field of AI. Swedish founders are emerging as global leaders, building companies with a focus on simplicity, good taste, and practicality.
• France: The country is demonstrating its potential in AI through world-class labs and vibrant founders. The rise of companies like Mistral exemplifies their ability to create world-class innovation.
• Nordic Region: This region is producing some of Europe’s most ambitious AI founders, which is seen as the “natural composition of a long history of excellence in computer science and applied ML”.

Best Countries to Find Programmers For Specific Coding Languages

The 2026 CodinGame Winter Challenge (SnakeByte) has taken over as the primary source for competitive school and country stats. A significant change in the “best programmer” geography occurred. Rankings are now tracked by schools (like the 42 Network) rather than countries, as top talent is increasingly mobile or remote.

• #1 Worldwide: Morocco (specifically the 1337 Coding School) shocked the industry by taking the top spot globally.  
• #2 Poland: (University of Wroclaw)
• #3 France: (42 Paris)

Where To Find The Best Programmers In The World For Each Technology?

Based on the PYPL Index, you can see where a programming language is more popular. 

According to this index, Python is king in the USA, India, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. C/C++ is second worldwide, Germany, the United Kingdom, and in the US, but third in India. In the meantime, Java is third everywhere but in India (where it’s 2nd place, 

IT, Innovation, and Digital Competitiveness

The innovation index helps isolate where countries are investing in innovation and the IT market, producing skilled and updated developers. It’s an efficient method to start looking at where the best programmers in the world are.

The Global Innovation Index (GII) tracks global innovation trends through four main categories: investment patterns, technological progress, adoption rates, and socioeconomic impacts

Following this research, the best 5 countries for innovation are: 

1. Switzerland
2. Sweden
3. The United States
4. The Republic of Korea
5. Singapore

In addition, it’s important to consider the local Digital Competitiveness in the global market. In this sense, the IMD World Competitiveness Center evaluates 3 factors in a country:

1. Knowledge: Capacity for technological learning
2. Technology: Investments in developing digital technologies
3. Future Readiness: Financial Plans for Digital Transformation

Based on the 2025 IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking (WDCR), the Top 10 countries for Digital Competitiveness are:

Top 10 Countries With The Best Programmers In The World

While certain countries may not have appeared on the HackerRank list, they still maintain high standards for remote development. By considering other lists and general statistics, it’s worth acknowledging these countries.

For example, the countries listed here are not ranked from best to worst. Instead, they represent ten places where language proficiency and robust education systems contribute to an abundance of highly skilled developers.

As mentioned earlier, HackerRank conducted diverse tests and challenges covering various domains. Some countries may not have excelled in the overall rankings but demonstrated exceptional performance in specific challenges.

It’s no surprise that an increasing number of businesses are choosing to collaborate with remote developers, whether as full-time employees, independent contractors, or through external agencies.

When seeking a remote developer globally, it is crucial to consider the specific skills required for your project. By doing so, you can make an informed decision and find the ideal developer for your team.

1. Ukraine

Ukraine is one of the top places to hire a remote developer in Eastern Europe. The IT industry counts around 175.000 tech professionals in Ukraine, with over 23.000 skilled and hard-working graduates entering the tech market. 

In the HackerRank challenge, Ukrainian developers reached an average score of 88.7% across all the challenges. In addition, the country is home to the largest community of C++ programmers, and 80% of its IT professionals speak English fluently.

Average salary: $40,000 per year; $19.23 per hour 

2. China

China is #1 in the HackerRank challenge and without surprises. 

The vast country is home to the fastest-growing IT companies, producing 4.7 million tech graduates every year. Unlike Eastern Europe, only 10 million of China’s 1.3 billion residents speak English. In addition, it is essential to consider their restricted policy on Intellectual Property (IP) laws, which you can turn around by hiring remotely. 

Average salary: $50,000 per year; $24.04 per hour

3. Poland

Poland is #3 in HackerRank, ranking first in Java assessments and in the top five with programming languages like Python, Shell, and Ruby. Besides having a convenient time zone, 30% of the Polish population speaks English as a second language, facilitating communications.

Average salary: $45,000 per year; $21.63 per hour

4. The Philippines 

The Philippines is one of the largest English-speaking countries globally — over 92% of Filipinos speak English. The local government highly implemented educational reform in the last few years, focusing on a specialized STEM high school system. 

While for more complex projects, China or Ukraine is a better fit, for a single project, the Philippines is a great choice. 

Average salary: $30,000 per year – $14.42 per hour

5. Romania

Romania is one of the places to hire in the IT market. The Romanian government has highly implemented IT infrastructure over the past years, and almost 90% of Romanian developers speak English and many other foreign languages. 

Romania is a particularly attractive destination due to its large base of engineers as well as its low-cost outsourcing capabilities.

Average salary: $35,000 per year; $16.83 per hour

6. Brazil

There are almost 6.18 million fluent English speakers in Brazil, and the government implements technology education infrastructures. 

Another factor to consider is the fact that the Brazilian IT workforce is relatively young; 38.18% of the population is under 24 years old. Like the Philippines, Brazil is a great place to find developers for small projects. 

Average salary: $30,000 per year; $14.42 per hour

7. Taiwan

Taiwan is #7 in the HackerRank list, with top performances in functional programming and data structures. In the last few years, the local government launched a program to become “Asia’s Silicon Valley,” improving STEM education and IT infrastructure.

However, in Taiwan, it is hard to find IT professionals proficient in English. The government is improving this aspect, considering making English one of its official national languages.

Average salary: $40,000 per year; $19.23 per hour 

8. Czech Republic

The Czech Republic counts 7,000 tech university graduates per year. The average salary tends to be higher than in Ukraine or Romania. However, it is still one of the most convenient places to hire because of the lower salary rate, especially hiring from the UK or the US. 

Average salary: $45,000 per year; $21.63

9. Canada

Canada counts 18.6% of its annual graduates with STEM degrees. Even ranking #21 in HackerRank, cities like Toronto, Calgary, and Halifax have plenty of talented developers. Especially for US companies, Canada is an English-speaking country and has a similar time zone. As a developed country, however, Canada has a higher annual salary rate. 

Average salary: $80,000 per year; $38.46

10. India 

India didn’t rank well in the HackerRank challenge, and the country is suffering from competition from Europe and South America. However, even with challenges and limits, India remains probably the first and most popular country when it comes to remote IT talent. 

As the second-largest English-speaking country, India has long been a popular destination for offshore outsourcing for US or UK employers due to its plentiful workforce, but recently, its quality of work has been called into question.

Average salary: $25,000 per year; $12.02

Find The Best Programmers In The World Remotely

When it comes to finding the best programmers in the world, you can follow different approaches and lists. Based on study rankings, you can explore HackerRank’s list and evaluate its different challenge types and the domain preferences for each country.

Other studies can give you a general idea of which regions are significantly growing and progressing in tech. However, basing solely on the list can lead to losing other key hiring aspects out of sight.

Scaling your tech team globally is also about welcoming developers who are a good culture fit for your company, have the needed soft skills, and who, besides their tech proficiency, also have a good English level and live in a convenient time zone. 

By partnering with DistantJob, you can access a wide talent pool of the best developers in the world who are ready to start working for you. Focus on scaling your business while we handle networking, vetting, paperwork, and more. Interested? Book a call or visit our offices in Montreal and Quebec.

Costanza Tagliaferri

Costanza Tagliaferri, a researcher located in Italy, brings a unique blend of continental philosophy and art & visual culture from Radboud University to her role as a content writer at our IT staffing agency, DistantJob. Specializing in digital art and creative coding, she explores technology beyond its commodification, focusing on playfulness in digital techniques. At DistantJob, she specializes in articulating complex tech concepts, particularly in IT recruitment and programming languages.