{ "slug": "eastern-europe-it-outsourcing", "question": "What does a software team cost in Eastern Europe, and where is the talent pool growing?", "title": "Software Developer Salaries in Eastern Europe 2026: Tech Team Costs by Country", "answer": { "headline": "A month of ICT work costs $515 in Georgia and $5,513 in Estonia — a tenfold spread inside one region. Poland's 687,000 ICT workers outnumber Czechia, Romania and Hungary combined, and the pool has grown 8% a year since 2019.", "sample": "ILOSTAT (ISIC Rev.4 J), Eurostat SBS, World Bank — 2024/2025 reference periods, 22 countries", "verifiedAsOf": "2026-09-23" }, "sections": [ { "id": "rates", "title": "Monthly ICT wage by country — the salary floor of a software team (US$)", "note": "Average monthly earnings in the ICT sector (ISIC Rev.4 J) at market exchange rates. A vendor's hourly rate card sits above this floor: it adds employer charges, bench time, management and margin. Rows whose latest ILOSTAT point is 2022–2023 are marked historical.", "rows": [ { "label": "Estonia", "value": "$5,513", "segment": "region's highest", "period": "2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Slovenia", "value": "$5,164", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Czechia", "value": "$4,055", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Slovakia", "value": "$4,043", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Latvia", "value": "$4,023", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Poland", "value": "$3,709", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Croatia", "value": "$3,545", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Bulgaria", "value": "$3,206", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Lithuania", "value": "$2,801", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Romania", "value": "$2,671", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Serbia", "value": "$2,364", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Hungary", "value": "$1,988", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Türkiye", "value": "$1,632", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Montenegro", "value": "$1,181", "segment": "latest available", "period": "2022", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1, "stale": true }, { "label": "Bosnia and Herzegovina", "value": "$1,129", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Moldova", "value": "$1,041", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Ukraine", "value": "$953", "segment": "latest available", "period": "2022", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1, "stale": true }, { "label": "Kazakhstan", "value": "$950", "segment": "latest available", "period": "2022", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1, "stale": true }, { "label": "Albania", "value": "$875", "segment": "latest available", "period": "2022", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1, "stale": true }, { "label": "Azerbaijan", "value": "$793", "segment": "latest available", "period": "2022", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1, "stale": true }, { "label": "Uzbekistan", "value": "$684", "segment": "latest available", "period": "2022", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1, "stale": true }, { "label": "Georgia", "value": "$515", "segment": "region's lowest", "period": "2023", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1, "stale": true } ], "chart": "bars" }, { "id": "pool", "title": "Talent pool: ICT-sector employment (thousands)", "note": "Everyone employed by information-and-communication companies, one definition across countries. Poland alone is bigger than Czechia, Romania and Hungary combined. Serbia and Uzbekistan are excluded: their series carry a break that failed our plausibility gate (see reconciliation).", "rows": [ { "label": "Poland", "value": "687k", "segment": "largest pool in the region", "period": "2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Türkiye", "value": "375k", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Ukraine", "value": "301k", "segment": "", "period": "2021", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1, "stale": true }, { "label": "Czechia", "value": "211k", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Romania", "value": "205k", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Kazakhstan", "value": "166k", "segment": "", "period": "2022", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1, "stale": true }, { "label": "Hungary", "value": "164k", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Bulgaria", "value": "129k", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Slovakia", "value": "107k", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Croatia", "value": "76k", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Lithuania", "value": "73k", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Azerbaijan", "value": "60k", "segment": "", "period": "2022", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1, "stale": true }, { "label": "Latvia", "value": "41k", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Estonia", "value": "40k", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 } ], "chart": "bars" }, { "id": "growth", "title": "Where the pool is growing — ICT employment, compound growth since 2019", "note": "Compound annual growth of the same ILOSTAT series, computed in our graph. The Baltics and the Western Balkans grow from a small base; Poland and Türkiye grow fast from a large one, which is the rarer combination.", "rows": [ { "label": "Bosnia and Herzegovina", "value": "+12.4%/yr", "segment": "fastest-growing pool · derived", "period": "2019–2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Lithuania", "value": "+11.9%/yr", "segment": "derived from the ILOSTAT series", "period": "2019–2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Moldova", "value": "+9.2%/yr", "segment": "derived from the ILOSTAT series", "period": "2019–2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Türkiye", "value": "+8.2%/yr", "segment": "derived from the ILOSTAT series", "period": "2019–2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Poland", "value": "+8.1%/yr", "segment": "derived from the ILOSTAT series", "period": "2019–2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "North Macedonia", "value": "+7.5%/yr", "segment": "derived from the ILOSTAT series", "period": "2019–2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Latvia", "value": "+7.5%/yr", "segment": "derived from the ILOSTAT series", "period": "2019–2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Montenegro", "value": "+6.8%/yr", "segment": "derived from the ILOSTAT series", "period": "2019–2024", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Albania", "value": "+5.8%/yr", "segment": "derived from the ILOSTAT series", "period": "2019–2024", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Slovakia", "value": "+5.7%/yr", "segment": "derived from the ILOSTAT series", "period": "2019–2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Croatia", "value": "+5.6%/yr", "segment": "derived from the ILOSTAT series", "period": "2019–2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Bulgaria", "value": "+4.9%/yr", "segment": "derived from the ILOSTAT series", "period": "2019–2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Estonia", "value": "+4.6%/yr", "segment": "derived from the ILOSTAT series", "period": "2019–2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Hungary", "value": "+3.9%/yr", "segment": "derived from the ILOSTAT series", "period": "2019–2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Czechia", "value": "+3.7%/yr", "segment": "derived from the ILOSTAT series", "period": "2019–2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Romania", "value": "+2.4%/yr", "segment": "derived from the ILOSTAT series", "period": "2019–2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Slovenia", "value": "+1.3%/yr", "segment": "derived from the ILOSTAT series", "period": "2019–2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Georgia", "value": "-3.9%/yr", "segment": "shrinking · derived", "period": "2019–2025", "source": "ILOSTAT", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/", "tier": 1 } ], "chart": "bars" }, { "id": "exports", "title": "Export intensity — ICT services as a share of all service exports", "note": "How much of a country's service exports is ICT. A high share means a mature vendor ecosystem, and also a market where the best teams are already booked by foreign clients.", "rows": [ { "label": "Ukraine", "value": "38.2%", "segment": "most outsourcing-dependent exporter", "period": "2024", "source": "World Bank", "url": "https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.GSR.CCIS.ZS", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Serbia", "value": "29.9%", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "World Bank", "url": "https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.GSR.CCIS.ZS", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Moldova", "value": "27.8%", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "World Bank", "url": "https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.GSR.CCIS.ZS", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Romania", "value": "26.0%", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "World Bank", "url": "https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.GSR.CCIS.ZS", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Bulgaria", "value": "25.7%", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "World Bank", "url": "https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.GSR.CCIS.ZS", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Estonia", "value": "25.0%", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "World Bank", "url": "https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.GSR.CCIS.ZS", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "North Macedonia", "value": "21.5%", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "World Bank", "url": "https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.GSR.CCIS.ZS", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Latvia", "value": "19.0%", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "World Bank", "url": "https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.GSR.CCIS.ZS", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Czechia", "value": "18.2%", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "World Bank", "url": "https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.GSR.CCIS.ZS", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Poland", "value": "16.9%", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "World Bank", "url": "https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.GSR.CCIS.ZS", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Slovakia", "value": "16.2%", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "World Bank", "url": "https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.GSR.CCIS.ZS", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Georgia", "value": "15.2%", "segment": "", "period": "2025", "source": "World Bank", "url": "https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.GSR.CCIS.ZS", "tier": 1 } ], "chart": "bars" }, { "id": "supply", "title": "Vendor supply: IT & software micro-firms (NACE J62, 0–9 employees)", "note": "Freelancers and boutique studios — the long tail founders actually hire from. Every market added firms since 2021 except Hungary.", "rows": [ { "label": "Poland", "value": "189,606", "segment": "+52% since 2021", "period": "2024", "source": "Eurostat SBS", "url": "https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/structural-business-statistics/database", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Czechia", "value": "49,944", "segment": "+24% since 2021", "period": "2024", "source": "Eurostat SBS", "url": "https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/structural-business-statistics/database", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Romania", "value": "43,872", "segment": "+29% since 2021", "period": "2024", "source": "Eurostat SBS", "url": "https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/structural-business-statistics/database", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Hungary", "value": "28,873", "segment": "-17% since 2021 · only market shrinking", "period": "2024", "source": "Eurostat SBS", "url": "https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/structural-business-statistics/database", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Slovakia", "value": "22,095", "segment": "+29% since 2021", "period": "2024", "source": "Eurostat SBS", "url": "https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/structural-business-statistics/database", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Bulgaria", "value": "11,036", "segment": "+24% since 2021", "period": "2024", "source": "Eurostat SBS", "url": "https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/structural-business-statistics/database", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Croatia", "value": "10,118", "segment": "+20% since 2021", "period": "2024", "source": "Eurostat SBS", "url": "https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/structural-business-statistics/database", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Lithuania", "value": "9,491", "segment": "+45% since 2021", "period": "2024", "source": "Eurostat SBS", "url": "https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/structural-business-statistics/database", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Estonia", "value": "9,361", "segment": "+40% since 2021", "period": "2024", "source": "Eurostat SBS", "url": "https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/structural-business-statistics/database", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Slovenia", "value": "8,535", "segment": "+20% since 2021", "period": "2024", "source": "Eurostat SBS", "url": "https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/structural-business-statistics/database", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Serbia", "value": "6,519", "segment": "+56% since 2021", "period": "2024", "source": "Eurostat SBS", "url": "https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/structural-business-statistics/database", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Latvia", "value": "4,515", "segment": "+13% since 2021", "period": "2024", "source": "Eurostat SBS", "url": "https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/structural-business-statistics/database", "tier": 1 } ] } ], "reconciliation": { "title": "Why salary surveys, vendor rate cards and these wages disagree", "body": "Outsourcing rate cards are quoted per hour and per vendor; the wages here are gross monthly earnings per employee from national labour statistics. The gap between them is employer charges, bench time, management and the vendor's margin — usually a multiple of the wage, never below it, which is why the wage is the honest floor for a budget. Three cautions. First, ILOSTAT converts wages at market exchange rates, so a currency slide (Türkiye) moves the dollar figure without moving the local one. Second, seven countries report their latest wage for 2022–2023; those rows are marked historical. Third, two employment series — Serbia and Uzbekistan — jump by a multiple in one year, a reporting break rather than hiring; both failed our plausibility gate and are excluded from the pool and growth sections, while Serbia's wage figure, which is continuous, stays. Ukraine's employment is last reported for 2021.", "sources": [ { "source": "ILOSTAT — employment and earnings by economic activity (ISIC Rev.4)", "url": "https://ilostat.ilo.org/" }, { "source": "World Bank — ICT service exports (% of service exports)", "url": "https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.GSR.CCIS.ZS" }, { "source": "Eurostat — Structural Business Statistics, enterprises by size class", "url": "https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/structural-business-statistics/database" } ] }, "methodology": "Every number on this page is a fact node in the God of Startups Atlas — a knowledge graph where each metric carries its source URL, reporting period and evidence tier. Tier 1 here means ILOSTAT, Eurostat and the World Bank. Growth rates are computed in the graph from the same series and labelled as derived. Where a figure failed our plausibility checks it is excluded and said so, not silently dropped. Vendor hourly rate cards are not in the graph — they are tier-3 marketing data — so this page publishes the wage floor instead.", "page": "https://godofstartups.com/atlas/eastern-europe-it-outsourcing", "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "note": "Each row carries its primary source, period and evidence tier (1 = official/statutory, 2 = industry research with disclosed method)." }