What does a month of software work cost in each country?
A month of ICT work costs $11,254 in the United States, $6,294 in the UK, $3,709 in Poland, $1,047 in Brazil and $540 in India (ILOSTAT, 2025). In Central and Eastern Europe, the full employer cost of an ICT hour runs from €24 in Bulgaria to €38 in Estonia and Slovenia (Eurostat, 2025).
ILOSTAT average monthly earnings in the ICT sector (ISIC Rev.4 J) for 54 countries, Eurostat labour cost levels for 12 CEE countries — 2021–2025 reference periods · verified as of
North America, Western Europe and Israel — monthly ICT wage (US$)
Average gross monthly earnings of employees in the information-and-communication sector at market exchange rates. Rows whose latest point is 2021–2022 are marked historical.
| Metric | Value | Segment | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $11,254 | highest in this group | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org |
| Switzerland | $11,018 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Luxembourg | $9,564 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Ireland | $9,562 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Belgium | $9,263 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Denmark | $8,365 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Norway | $7,895 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Netherlands | $7,684 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Austria | $7,422 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| France | $7,246 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Finland | $7,203 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Germanyhistorical | $6,809 | 2022 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Israelhistorical | $6,765 | 2021 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Sweden | $6,559 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| United Kingdom | $6,294 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Italy | $5,752 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Spain | $4,506 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Greece | $2,754 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Portugal | $1,990 | lowest in this group | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org |
Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans — monthly ICT wage (US$)
Same series. The spread inside this group alone is fivefold, which is why a nearshore budget depends on the country more than on the region.
| Metric | Value | Segment | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estonia | $5,513 | highest in this group | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org |
| Slovenia | $5,164 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Czechia | $4,055 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Slovakia | $4,043 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Latvia | $4,023 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Poland | $3,709 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Croatia | $3,545 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Bulgaria | $3,206 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Lithuania | $2,801 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Romania | $2,671 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Serbia | $2,364 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Hungary | $1,988 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Montenegrohistorical | $1,181 | 2022 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | $1,129 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Moldova | $1,041 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Ukrainehistorical | $953 | 2022 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Albaniahistorical | $875 | lowest in this group | 2022 | ilostat.ilo.org |
Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa — monthly ICT wage (US$)
Same series. Currency moves matter most here: a devaluation lowers the dollar figure without changing local pay.
| Metric | Value | Segment | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singaporehistorical | $4,534 | highest in this group | 2021 | ilostat.ilo.org |
| South Koreahistorical | $3,797 | 2022 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Japanhistorical | $3,403 | 2021 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Saudi Arabiahistorical | $3,335 | 2022 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Türkiye | $1,632 | lira depreciation lowers the dollar figure | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org |
| Chinahistorical | $1,533 | 2022 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Brazil | $1,047 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Kazakhstanhistorical | $950 | 2022 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Thailand | $937 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Azerbaijanhistorical | $793 | 2022 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Mexico | $779 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Uzbekistanhistorical | $684 | 2022 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Philippines | $546 | 2024 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| India | $540 | 2025 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Vietnam | $527 | 2024 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Georgia | $515 | 2023 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Indonesia | $307 | 2023 | ilostat.ilo.org | |
| Egypt | $123 | lowest in this group · after the 2024 devaluation | 2024 | ilostat.ilo.org |
Full employer cost of an ICT hour in Central and Eastern Europe (€, including social contributions)
Eurostat labour cost level for the information-and-communication sector: wages plus employer social contributions and other labour costs, per hour worked. This is the number to budget with, not the gross wage.
| Metric | Value | Segment | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estonia | €38.4 | highest in this set | 2025 | ec.europa.eu |
| Slovenia | €38.3 | 2025 | ec.europa.eu | |
| Czechia | €34.9 | 2025 | ec.europa.eu | |
| Lithuania | €32.0 | 2025 | ec.europa.eu | |
| Slovakia | €30.8 | 2025 | ec.europa.eu | |
| Croatia | €30.1 | 2025 | ec.europa.eu | |
| Poland | €29.3 | 2025 | ec.europa.eu | |
| Serbia | €28.2 | 2025 | ec.europa.eu | |
| Latvia | €27.8 | 2025 | ec.europa.eu | |
| Romania | €26.0 | 2025 | ec.europa.eu | |
| Hungary | €24.4 | 2025 | ec.europa.eu | |
| Bulgaria | €24.0 | lowest in this set | 2025 | ec.europa.eu |
Why developer salary surveys, vendor rate cards and these numbers disagree
The ILOSTAT series is the average earnings of everyone employed in information-and-communication companies — developers, but also telecom, media and support staff — so it is a floor and a comparison line, not the salary of a senior engineer. Salary surveys of developers usually report higher numbers, and vendor rate cards add employer charges, bench time, management and margin on top. Dollar figures move with exchange rates: the 2024 devaluation is why Egypt shows about $123 a month, and the lira's slide lowers Türkiye's figure. Eurostat's hourly labour cost includes employer social contributions, which is why it is the closer proxy for a budget. Germany, Israel, Singapore, South Korea, Japan and several others last reported in 2021–2022 and are marked historical; Malaysia's latest point (2020) is too old and is left out.
ILOSTAT — mean monthly earnings of employees by economic activity · Eurostat — labour cost levels by NACE Rev. 2 activity (lc_lci_lev)
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, reporting period and evidence tier. Tier 1 here means ILOSTAT and Eurostat. Values are the latest point of each official series, shown in the unit the source uses; nothing is converted, estimated or modelled.
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