It is not secret to anyone that the two biggest software outsourcing destinations are by far Asia and Latin America, with countries such as India, Panama and Brazil being amongst the top software outsourcing countries.
With Asia being the most popular option for offshore software development and Latin America being the best one for nearshore solutions, these two very important regions contribute greatly to the outsourcing market.
Today, we will compare these two regions based on three different factors
- Number of software developers currently working in each region
- How expensive it is to outsource there
- Overall experience when outsourcing to Asia and Latin America
1: Latin america software developers vs Asian developers
Before you continue reading, you should know we have not one but two blogs in which we talk about the impact of software developers in latin america and how to hire the best software engineers from latin america.
We truly recommend you to read those ones first and then come back to this one, trust us, there’s plenty of useful information there.
Moving on, the contracts between these two regions is noticeable. To start, Asia has way more many software engineers in one country. Than Latin America in all the region combined.
According to a report made by Accelerance, there are approximately 3.845.709 software engineers in Asia, while there’s only about 1.0071.155 software developers in Latin America.
Also, three Asian countries take on the first spots in the TopCoder chart, beating Latin American countries that actually have lower ranges and fewer representatives as well.
However, when it comes to the overall business environment when working with Asian or Latin american developers, the difference is rather noticeable, with engineers from latin america scoring much higher numbers than Asian ones, although we will take on this particular matter further on.
In conclusion, Asia has a wider popularity of Software engineers, although Latin America experiences a higher level of expertise and have a much more recognized working culture.
2: How expensive it is to outsource to Latin America vs Asia
Again, we have talked about the real cost of software development in various blogs before, which you can check out here, and here. We recommend you to do so, this way you’ll have a better perception of prices and costs ranges.
Now, there’s no denying Asia has the lowest cost range amongst Latin America and even Europe, being the cheapest software outsourcing destination between these three options.
For example, the average cost rate for a Junior software developer in Latin America is about $35 to $44, meanwhile in Asia, the cost range is about $18 to $24, experiencing a big difference between these two markets.
There’s also worth to mention that even when Asian countries like india have very stable low prices, countries like China are actually raising up their costs, almost reaching the average Latin America price range.
The truth be told, Asia is an extremely cheap option for anyone looking to outsource their software development projects, however, cheap doesn't always mean good, and going for the cheapest solution could easily turn into a bad experience.
3: Overall outsourcing market in Asia vs Latin America
We have talked about why outsourcing to countries like India isn’t so much of a good idea anymore, and how the software outsourcing market there is actually slowly decreasing, which you can read, here.
And this is true. You see, just like it is stated in a report made by DAXX, even when Asia has the lowest price range of the whole world, they also have one of the most inestable outsourcing markets.
Low prices and the proliferation of inexpert outsourcing companies can lead to adverse working conditions, poorly handled software projects and undesired results. Not to mention a lost of your money and time.
Meanwhile, Latin America has a thriving IT industry that, although small compared to Asia, has excellent reviews from different companies that have outsourced their services there.
Yes, prices in Latin America might be higher, but you reduce risk of poor communication, no language barrier to worry about and not dramatically different time zones interfering with the flow of the project.
In conclusion, these two outsourcing markets and the developers in each one offer two different sets of opportunities and benefits that can suit your projects depending on your requirements and necessities.
However, if you’re new to this industry, we truly recommend working with latin america software developers (like ourselves) who are closer to you, and that can carry on such projects in a much organized, easier way.
