The number of software developers reached 18.5 million, said IDC. India has been ranked third in the number of software developers, behind America and China.
Out of this, 11 million are professional software developers and 7.5 million are hobbyist developers, the IT research agency said. IDC also believes that there are 29 million ICT-skilled workers in the world, including professional software developers and 18 million operations and management skilled workers.
IDC says the United States accounts for 19 percent of worldwide software developers, both professional and hobbyists, followed by China with 10 percent and India with 9.8 percent.
The United States also accounts for 22 percent of worldwide ICT-skilled workers, followed by India with 10.4 percent and China with 7.6 percent.
While the numbers of both developers and ICT-skilled workers are expected to grow over the next few years, shifts in how IT is being delivered through cloud services will favor the growth in developers over other ICT-skilled workers.
Additionally, the population of hobbyist developers is rapidly changing and the growth of this segment is being boosted by the mobile revolution.
picture source: en.wikipedia.org