Country strategy methodology

How the country ranking is built

The ranking compares sourcing markets with your target profile across Cost, Availability & Scaling, Quality, and Safety.

The 5-step flow

01Clarify roleThe default includes core, additional and reference markets with GDPR and no more than three hours of time difference. Germany is the cost reference.

02Collect signalsEvery country uses the same engineering basket and required core signals. Additional information remains context.

03Make it comparableMonthly costs use five FTE and 20 working days each. Talent and safety retain their source scales. Quality uses three equally weighted percentiles on a fixed 44-country basis; table filters do not change these values.

04Set targetsThe cost slider sets desired savings against Germany and shows the calculated budget. Other sliders set minimums; 0 excludes those targets.

05Build shortlistBalanced sorts by average target fulfilment; Avoid bottlenecks sorts by the weakest active target. Overachievement is capped at 100%; ties share a rank. Within equal fulfilment, cheaper complete baskets come first.

Cost

Compares the average full employer cost per FTE for software developers across 2026 and 2027. Statutory employer contributions and the expected 2027 cost increase are included and not counted twice.

Cost basis: annual gross salary plus employer on-costs per FTE. Contractor day rates are excluded.

Availability & Scaling

Describes absolute ICT talent market size, not currently available applicants or a per-capita measure.

50% availability (population, ICT specialists, GitHub developer accounts) and 50% scaling (higher-education institutions, ICT graduates), log-scaled across the published evaluation countries.

Quality

Describes the skills and collaboration readiness of a location. This is a proxy built from official and recognised indices, not observed delivery quality.

50% skills (digital and AI skills of tertiary-educated 25–64-year-olds, Eurostat) and 50% collaboration readiness (English per EF EPI, digital maturity per IMD), scaled linearly.

Safety

Shows whether current security and operating-stability risk is manageable.

Used for: FCDO travel/security advice and WGI operating risk.

Ranking

Balanced: mean active target fulfilment. Avoid bottlenecks: lowest active fulfilment. Data confidence and source count do not change the rank.

Missing active core values or a missing budget reference leave the country visible without a rank. Other targets use country index / minimum, capped at 100%.

What the ranking supports in a sourcing decision

Shortlist focusYour target profile changes the order directly. Market roles remain visible.

Clear trade-offsThe selected sorting rule and visible targets explain the order. No additional hidden weighting.

Evidence checkThe table briefly labels estimates. The country profile shows sources, data periods, model assumptions and open gaps.