Software Development Statistics 2023 - TrueList (2023)

The software development industry has arguably the fastest growth rate among other business sectors. Needless to say, trends are changing as fast as the industry, and keeping up with them is imperative for businesses and their development teams. That’s why we prepared a list of the most interesting software development statistics for you, to help you stay up-to-date with both current and future trends. Let’s have a peek!

Software Development Statistics (Editor’s Pick)

• California has the highest average annual software developer salary. (U.S. News)
• There are 26.9 million software developers worldwide. (Future Processing, BLS)
• Nearly 70% of developers used Javascript in the past 12 months. (Statista, Developer Tech)
• Over 80% of developers in the US are male. (Daxx)
• 24% of executives outsource software development. (Datamart, The Codest)
• The most-used software development management tool is Jira. (The Codest)
• The most popular framework used by software engineers is React.js. (Statista)

General Software Development Statistics & Facts

1. The average annual base salary for a software developer is $73,967.

The software developers salary heavily depends on the location. California is considered the best place for developers where the annual salary is $134,370, followed by Washington State, with an average annual base salary of $73,967.

(PayScale, U.S. News)

2. There are approximately 26.9 million software developers in the world.

The number of software developers in the world is growing each day, and currently, there are roughly 4.3 million developers in the US, while Europe has over 6 million developers. Furthermore, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics has projected that by 2029, demand for developers will grow by 22%. Software development job statistics clearly indicate the bright future for this profession, but even though demand is high, there aren’t enough qualified developers to fill the gap.

(Future Processing, BLS)

3. Europe has an estimated 6.1 million developers.

When it comes to the number of software developers by country, Germany, the UK, and France take the top three spots. Germany has the highest number of developers, with 873,398 developers, but the UK is not that far behind, counting 813,500 of them. Third-ranked France is home to 477,454 professional software developers.

(Daxx)

4. The global software development market size was valued at 429.59 billion in 2021 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 11.7% from 2022 to 2030.

This immense size of the software development market shouldn’t come as a surprise, but you probably wonder why is it such a large market? Custom software brings multiple benefits to companies, and they are favoring it as a result. Custom software development statistics further reveal that the software development market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.7% between 2022 and 2030.

(Grand View Research)

5. The average software developer age is between 25 and 34 years.

A lot of developers are young. Recent data related to software engineer age distribution shows that the majority of developers, i.e., 48.42%, are from the 25-34 age group. The concentration of developers between 35 and 44 years sits at 21.71%. Software engineer statistics show that the smallest portion of the professional developer community is 65 and older, while those between 18 and 24 make up 19.8% of the software developer population.

(Stack Overflow)

6. Asia has the highest number of app developers (32.9%).

There is high demand for app developers, with the increasing number of businesses from across industries hiring some of the top app development companies. Asia dominates the market with the highest number of app developers (32.9%), followed by Europe with 29.7% of the market share, according to software development industry statistics.

(Treinetic)

7. 80.7% of software developers in the US are male, while females account for the remaining 19.3%.

In addition to age, we can also analyze the demographics of software developers by gender. The vast majority of developers are men, and women account for only 19.3% of all developers in the US. On a global level, women account for 27.5% of the software development population, while the remaining 72.5% are men. This data demonstrates the male-dominating environment in positions related to software engineering and computer science.

(Daxx)

8. Ukraine is considered a top web development outsourcing destination.

According to the latest software development outsourcing statistics, Ukraine is home to over 200,000 outsourcing programmers with science, technology, and engineering degrees. Many tech firms opt to outsource such jobs to Ukrainian vendors in an effort to benefit from budget-friendly IT expertise.

(Daxx)

9. Around 24% of executives outsource software development.

Outsourcing is a marvelous way to stay competitive in the fast-changing business world and find skilled developers at affordable prices. Meanwhile, there are five positions per developer, which clearly indicates shortage and leads to outsourcing. Offshore software development statistics show that the biggest challenges in software development range from capacity and sharing knowledge to prioritizing development.

(Datamart, The Codest)

10. Software developer job postings dropped by 8% in 2020.

Nearly every industry felt the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and IT is no exception. Overall, software developers are in lesser demand, but .NET developer jobs have seen an increase of 12%. Meanwhile, the demand for web developers decreased by 25%.

(The Enterprisers Project)

11. Integration of artificial intelligence in software is a major software development trend.

Although the technology has been around for a while, as evidenced by the AI companies out there, it continues transforming businesses all over the world, including software development. Deep learning and advanced machine learning enable developers to build better software much faster than before. Software development trends further reveal that $2.9 trillion will be generated by artificial intelligence augmentation by 2021.

(Analytics Insight, Gartner)

12. In the US, the average coding experience is 15.8 years.

According to a Stack Overflow survey, Australian professional developers have the longest coding experience at 16.9 years, followed by the United Kingdom with 16.1 years. The US ranks third (15.8 years), while fourth and fifth place go to the Netherlands (15 years) and Canada (14.4 years). Some interesting facts about software developers show that nearly one-third of those professionals started coding 5 to 10 years ago.

(Stack Overflow)

13. 61% of software developers use Windows OS and 47% use Linux.

Developers use various operating systems, but according to the latest statistics, for 61% of software developers, Windows is the leading development environment. Linux ranks second on the list of the most popular PC operating systems, with 47% of developers using it, and macOS is third.

(Statista)

14. 69% of developers use Javascript as their primary programming language.

JavaScript, used by 69% of developers, is the most popular programming language, as confirmed by software developer statistics. One of the most prominent programming languages has a huge and powerful community of developers, with around 13.8 million developers.

(Statista, Developer Tech)

15. React.js is the most popular web framework used by 40.14% of software developers.

One of the critical tasks at the initial stage of project development is to choose an appropriate framework for your web application development. According to software development statistics, React.js is one of the most used frameworks compared to other web frameworks. Software developers’ second favorite is jQuery, while the other candidates in the top 5 include Express, Angular, and Vue.js.

(Statista)

16. Jira is the most-used tool for managing software development projects.

Most software development companies are using Jira to handle their projects. Due to its flexibility and customization options, it’s appreciated by many of its users. The software development project statistics reveal that developers use JIRA more than any other project management tool. It is used by nearly 50% of developers, whereas Trello is right behind, with almost 20% of developers relying on it.

(The Codest)

17. The shift to cloud services will immensely affect IT spending — over $1.3 trillion by 2022.

If you’re wondering about the current trends in software development, cloud computing is definitely the most popular. Cloud computing value is projected to reach $354.6 billion by 2022, with its popularity deriving from the unlimited amount of resources it gives to software engineers.

(Gartner)

18. The most important criteria for hiring a developer is the willingness to learn and become a cultural fit.

Hiring a highly skilled developer who can also bring value to your team is undeniably a huge challenge. Companies are no longer looking for college degrees, but they need someone who will adapt quickly in this rapidly changing world. Technical skills are a must, but facts about software developers reveal that nearly 60% of recruiters are more focused on finding tech employees with strong soft skills.

(Apium Hub)

Software Development FAQ

How many software developers are there in the US?

4.3 million developers call the US their home, while Washington is the number one US state with the highest percentage of software developers (6.46%).

(Daxx)

Is software development a good career?

The future looks bright for the profession, and, according to software development statistics, jobs in this industry are anticipated to grow by 22% in the upcoming years. Apart from the high demand for this profession, the average annual salary is $107,510. Some other perks of being a developer are flexibility, work-life balance, and a comfortable work environment.

(CustomerThink)

Which software development methodology to choose?

Waterfall, rapid application development, and prototype are common methodologies, while agile is the most used one. Agile software development statistics suggest that this methodology is used to minimize risks if the team is adding new functionality. Agile can take many different forms, such as scrum, extreme programming, and crystal. Its main advantage is that it allows for software to be realized in iterations.

(Nex Websites)

Why do software development projects fail?

According to research, 25% of all software projects fail. Reasons for project failure are various, but all of them can be tracked down to one thing — bad project management. Insufficient time to finish a project, unclear requirements, or poor communication are all causes of failed projects. In fact, 55% of projects fail as a result of lacking time, as confirmed by software development project failure statistics.

(The Codest)

Can software development be automated?

When it comes to software development, many human skills can hardly be automated, but certain tasks could and most likely will be. In fact, 1 in 3 developers state their main professional fear is being replaced by AI.

(Computerworld)

Conclusion

After going over some software development statistics, we can say that the future for the industry is bright. To ensure that this also applies to you and your business, you need to keep track of the changes and trends in the software development industry. Hopefully, these stats and facts will make that task a little easier.

Sources: U.S. News, Future Processing, BLS, Statista, Developer Tech, Daxx, Datamart, The Codest, Statista, PayScale, Grand View Research, Stack Overflow, Treinetic, The Enterprisers Project, Analytics Insight, Gartner, Stack Overflow, Statista, The Codest, Gartner, Gartner, Apium Hub, CustomerThink, Nex Websites, The Codest, Computerworld