Which country has more Java, JavaScript, Ruby on Rails, Python, and PHP engineers?

With more than 20M developers globally, the question of their distribution by technology and seniority levels becomes more and more topical. Thus, in our research, we’ve decided to use LinkedIn (a platform with a 630M member network) and find out how many Java, JavaScript, Ruby on Rails, Python, and PHP developers there are in the US, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, and Ukraine.

We’ve also analyzed developer distribution by seniority levels in each country. Additionally, we used Upwork (a platform with a 17M member network) to get the numbers of developers and compare them with the results of our LinkedIn research.

Jumping ahead, we can tell right away that Ukraine takes one of the leading positions in several technologies and even outruns the US in the number of PHP developers. No wonder Ukraine is now considered one of the most progressive outsourcing tech talent markets in Eastern Europe. 

There are 185K software developers in Ukraine, 4K+ IT companies, and 20% of the world’s leaders have already established their offices in the country. 

Keep reading to find more statistics about the numbers of developers by technology and seniority levels in Ukraine and other countries.

• The US takes the leading position by the population — there are 331M people in the country. Consequently, the US has the biggest number of developers specializing in certain technologies, namely Java — 63K engineers, JavaScript — 12K professionals, Python — 10K programmers, and Ruby on Rails — 3K software developers. 
• Though the population of Ukraine is seven times smaller than the population of the US, the country has more PHP developers — 9K. Ukraine also catches up with the US in several other technologies: there are 3K Python developers and 8K JavaScript software engineers in Ukraine. 
• In most technologies, the UK follows the US and Ukraine closely. There are 14K Java developers, 5K JavaScript and PHP programmers, and 2K Python software engineers in the UK. However, the country trails far behind in the number of Ruby on Rails developers — only nearly 700 software engineers specialize in this technology. 
• Germany and the Netherlands have very different populations — 84M and 17M correspondingly. However, the numbers of developers by technologies coincide in many cases. For example, there are 6K Java developers in Germany and almost 6K in the Netherlands. The same is true for JavaScript — there are 3K developers in Germany and nearly 3K in the Netherlands. Also, there are 3K PHP developers in the Netherlands and slightly more than 2K PHP engineers in Germany.
• When it comes to Ruby on Rails and Python, Germany and the Netherlands have divergent numbers of engineers. There are only over 600 Ruby on Rails engineers in Germany and almost 300 developers specializing in this technology in the Netherlands. There are more than 1K Python programmers in Germany and 800 Python developers in the Netherlands.  

• The US takes the leading position by the population — there are 331M people in the country. Consequently, the US has the biggest number of developers specializing in certain technologies, namely Java — 63K engineers, JavaScript — 12K professionals, Python — 10K programmers, and Ruby on Rails — 3K software developers. 
• Though the population of Ukraine is seven times smaller than the population of the US, the country has more PHP developers — 9K. Ukraine also catches up with the US in several other technologies: there are 3K Python developers and 8K JavaScript software engineers in Ukraine. 
• In most technologies, the UK follows the US and Ukraine closely. There are 14K Java developers, 5K JavaScript and PHP programmers, and 2K Python software engineers in the UK. However, the country trails far behind in the number of Ruby on Rails developers — only nearly 700 software engineers specialize in this technology. 
• Germany and the Netherlands have very different populations — 84M and 17M correspondingly. However, the numbers of developers by technologies coincide in many cases. For example, there are 6K Java developers in Germany and almost 6K in the Netherlands. The same is true for JavaScript — there are 3K developers in Germany and nearly 3K in the Netherlands. Also, there are 3K PHP developers in the Netherlands and slightly more than 2K PHP engineers in Germany.
• When it comes to Ruby on Rails and Python, Germany and the Netherlands have divergent numbers of engineers. There are only over 600 Ruby on Rails engineers in Germany and almost 300 developers specializing in this technology in the Netherlands. There are more than 1K Python programmers in Germany and 800 Python developers in the Netherlands.  

To compile this study, we used the professional LinkedIn tool — Recruiter. It allowed us to access more specific search options, such as details about tech specializations and years of experience.

We chose some of the most popular programming technologies according to the TIOBE index — Java, JavaScript, Ruby on Rails, Python, and PHP. 

Then, we studied the overall numbers of programmers for every technology in each country under study separately — the US, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, and Ukraine.

After we found the overall numbers, we also analyzed how many developers in each technology are junior (0–3 years of experience), middle (3–6 years of experience), and senior (6+ years of experience). 

We also utilized Upwork to find alternative data on the numbers of developers in the US, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, and Ukraine by technologies — Java, JavaScript, Ruby on Rails, Python, JavaScript, and PHP. 

*The following numbers of developers by technologies and seniority levels show overall tendencies of the talent markets and can be incomplete as they represent the data available on LinkedIn. 

In our LinkedIn research, Ukraine takes the lead in the number of PHP developers — there are almost 9K programmers proficient in this technology. The US follows with 7K PHP software engineers, the UK goes next with nearly 5K PHP programmers.

Germany and the Netherlands close the list with similar figures — 2K+ and almost 3K PHP software developers correspondingly.

The US and Ukraine have similar numbers of senior PHP developers — in the US, there are almost 6K senior PHP software engineers, while in Ukraine, there are over 5K senior PHP programmers. Regarding other seniority levels, the countries show divergent patterns.

In the US, there are only 4 hundred junior PHP engineers and slightly more than 1K middle PHP developers. At the same time, in Ukraine, there are more than 1K junior PHP software engineers and almost 3K middle PHP programmers. 

Germany and the Netherlands have comparable numbers of PHP software developers by seniority levels. For example, there are more than 4 hundred middle PHP developers in both countries.

In the Netherlands, there are nearly 2 hundred junior PHP programmers, while in Germany there are more than 1 hundred junior software engineers. Both in the Netherlands and Germany, there are around 2K senior PHP programmers. 

According to our LinkedIn research, the U.S. takes the leading position in the number of Java software engineers — there are 63K Java developers in the country. The UK follows with almost 14K Java developers.

Ukraine has 8K Java programmers, while Germany and the Netherlands trail behind with 6K Java engineers each. 

Concerning the distribution of Java developers by seniority levels, the majority of Java engineers in all countries studied are senior professionals (have 6+ years of experience).

Since the US has the largest population, it comes as no surprise that the country has the biggest number of Java software engineers.   

Though Ukraine, Germany, and the Netherlands have similar numbers of senior Java developers — around 5K, the distribution between junior and middle Java software engineers in the countries varies drastically.

In Ukraine, the numbers of developers of different seniority levels are distributed more equally than in Germany — there are around 2K junior Java engineers, 2K middle Java programmers, and 5K senior Java programmers.

In the meantime, there are 5 hundred junior Java developers, more than 1K middle Java engineers, and 5K senior Java software developers in Germany.

In the Netherlands, there are more than 5 hundred junior Java software engineers, more than 6 hundred middle Java programmers, and 5K senior Java developers.  
 
In the US and the UK, the distribution by seniority isn’t particularly balanced. In the US, there are 5K junior Java developers, 12K middle Java engineers, and 49K senior Java programmers.

In the UK, there are 7 hundred junior Java developers, 1,5K middle Java programmers, and 12K senior Java engineers.

There are around 3K Ruby on Rails developers in the US. Ukraine goes next with slightly more than 1K Ruby on Rails software engineers. The UK and Germany follow with close numbers of developers proficient in Ruby on Rails — around 7 hundred.

The Netherlands trails behind other countries with only 291 professional Ruby on Rails programmers on LinkedIn. 

All countries share similar patterns of seniority distribution of Ruby on Rails developers — the majority of engineers are senior professionals.

Curiously, the US and Ukraine have similar numbers of junior developers — around 2 hundred. 

If we consider middle Ruby on Rails engineers, the US takes the lead with almost 8 hundred professionals, while Ukraine follows with around 5 hundred.

When it comes to the number of senior Ruby on Rails developers, there are more than 2K professionals in the US and almost 7 hundred in Ukraine. 

As has been already mentioned, the UK and Germany have similar overall numbers of Ruby on Rails developers.

Further distribution continues this tendency: there are more than 6 hundred Ruby on Rails software engineers in the UK and Germany, around 30 junior professionals, and approximately 5 hundred senior Ruby on Rails developers.  

The Netherlands is the country with the smallest number of Ruby on Rails developers in our research. Distribution by seniority levels shows that there are around 20 junior developers, more than 50 middle Ruby on Rails engineers, and more than200 senior programmers.

In our LinkedIn research, the US takes the lead in the number of Python developers — more than 10K developers are specializing in this technology.

Ukraine follows with 3K Python software engineers, the UK goes next with 2K+ Python programmers, while Germany and the Netherlands trail behind with around 1K Python developers in each country. 

Regarding the distribution by seniority levels, junior (2K) and middle (3K) Python developers in the US make up half of all developers, while seniors make the other half — 5K+ Python software engineers. 

Though Ukraine and the UK have comparable overall numbers of Python developers, the seniority distribution differs. The majority of Python software engineers in the UK are seniors — 1.5K.

There are only around 3 hundred junior Python engineers and nearly 5 hundred middle Python programmers.

Ukraine shows a more equal distribution of Python developers by seniority — there are almost 1K junior Python developers, and 1K+ of both middle and senior Python software engineers on LinkedIn. 

The Netherlands has the lowest number of Python developers, and the distribution by seniority is as follows: junior Python engineers — more than 1 hundred, middle Python developers — more than 2 hundred, senior Python programmers — around 6 hundred.

The US comes first in the number of JavaScript software engineers — there are almost 12K professionals. Ukraine follows with nearly 8K JavaScript developers.

The UK goes next with almost 5K JavaScript programmers. Germany and the Netherlands close the list with around 3K JavaScript developers in each country. 

The US boasts the largest number of senior JavaScript developers — more than 8K professionals. There are almost2K junior JavaScript engineers in the country and 3K middle JavaScript engineers in the US. 

Ukraine shows a more equally distributed JavaScript talent pool. There are 2K+ junior Javascript developers, almost 3K middle JavaScript software engineers, and 3K+ senior JavaScript programmers in Ukraine. 

The UK, Germany, and the Netherlands follow similar to the US patterns of seniority distribution. There are more than 4 hundred junior Javascript engineers, 9 hundred middle Javascript software developers, and almost 4K senior JavaScript programmers in the UK.  

Germany and the Netherlands share similar numbers of JavaScript developers if compared by seniority levels.

There are more than 3 hundred junior JavaScript engineers in both Germany and the Netherlands. Regarding middle JavaScript developers, there are more than 8 hundred JavaScript engineers in Germany and almost 7 hundred in the Netherlands. There are around 2K senior JavaScript programmers in both countries. 

We also decided to research Upwork — an international platform with 12M freelance professionals.

We found the numbers of developers in each country under study — the US, the UK, Ukraine, Germany, the Netherlands and analyzed technology distribution in each of them.

Though the numbers of developers differ a lot, the patterns of distribution are quite similar to the results of our LinkedIn research.

The US has the biggest number of developers in all technologies: there are 38K JavaScript software developers, 18K Java and PHP developers, nearly 15K Python programmers, and almost 6K Ruby on Rails engineers. 

Ukraine is right behind the US with the following numbers: there are 12K JavaScript developers, 7K+ PHP software engineers, 4K+ Java software developers, 2K+ Python programmers, and almost 8 hundred Ruby on Rails engineers. 

The UK goes next in the number of developers. There are around 4K JavaScript software engineers, nearly 3K PHP programmers, almost 2K Java developers, 1K+ Python engineers, and almost 8 hundred Ruby on Rails software developers. 

Germany and the Netherlands trail behind, yet Germany shows a sequence of higher numbers. There are 1K+ JavaScript developers, 8 hundred Java and PHP engineers, almost 6 hundred Python programmers, and only around 2 hundred Ruby on Rails developers. 

In the Netherlands, the numbers are even smaller. There are around 6 hundred JavaScript software engineers, nearly 5 hundred PHP programmers, almost 3 hundred Java developers, 2 hundred+ Python software engineers, and only around 1 hundred Ruby on Rails engineers in the country.

Our extensive LinkedIn and Upwork research led to several valuable conclusions: 

• Larger population doesn’t always result in a higher number of developers — Ukraine has a bigger number of PHP software engineers than the US. There are 9K PHP developers in Ukraine and 7K PHP engineers in the US. 
• The UK’s population is bigger than Ukraine’s — there are 68M people in the UK and 43M people in Ukraine. Still, Ukraine takes the lead in the number of software developers in several technologies. There are 3K Python developers in Ukraine and 2K Python engineers in the UK; 8K JavaScript developers in  Ukraine and 5K JavaScript engineers in the UK; 1K Ruby on Rails developers in Ukraine and 7 hundred Ruby on Rails engineers in the UK. 
• Though the Netherlands’ population is almost 5 times smaller than Germany’s, the countries have comparable numbers of software engineers. The Netherlands and Germany both have around 6K Java developers, nearly 3K JavaScript software engineers; there are almost 3K PHP programmers in the Netherlands and 2K PHP developers in Germany. 
• Concerning the research of seniority levels, we can conclude that in most countries senior engineers prevail, which means unequal distribution by seniority levels. The only exception is Ukraine — the distribution by seniority levels in the country is balanced. For example, the overall number of JavaScript developers in Ukraine is 8K — there are 2K junior, 3K middle, and 3K senior JavaScript engineers. This tendency shows that the Ukrainian tech talent market is rather diverse, and you can find developers with any stack and seniority level here.

• Larger population doesn’t always result in a higher number of developers — Ukraine has a bigger number of PHP software engineers than the US. There are 9K PHP developers in Ukraine and 7K PHP engineers in the US. 
• The UK’s population is bigger than Ukraine’s — there are 68M people in the UK and 43M people in Ukraine. Still, Ukraine takes the lead in the number of software developers in several technologies. There are 3K Python developers in Ukraine and 2K Python engineers in the UK; 8K JavaScript developers in  Ukraine and 5K JavaScript engineers in the UK; 1K Ruby on Rails developers in Ukraine and 7 hundred Ruby on Rails engineers in the UK. 
• Though the Netherlands’ population is almost 5 times smaller than Germany’s, the countries have comparable numbers of software engineers. The Netherlands and Germany both have around 6K Java developers, nearly 3K JavaScript software engineers; there are almost 3K PHP programmers in the Netherlands and 2K PHP developers in Germany. 
• Concerning the research of seniority levels, we can conclude that in most countries senior engineers prevail, which means unequal distribution by seniority levels. The only exception is Ukraine — the distribution by seniority levels in the country is balanced. For example, the overall number of JavaScript developers in Ukraine is 8K — there are 2K junior, 3K middle, and 3K senior JavaScript engineers. This tendency shows that the Ukrainian tech talent market is rather diverse, and you can find developers with any stack and seniority level here.