{
    "question": "How many software developers are there in the world?",
    "answer": "More than 225 million developers use GitHub, according to GitHub's Octoverse report of 28 October 2026, covering October 2025 to September 2026. GitHub changed its method for that report, so the figure is not directly comparable with the more than 180 million in its 2025 report. That counts accounts, not jobs: the US Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 1,905,400 jobs for US software developers, QA analysts and testers in 2025.",
    "period": "Oct 2025 to Sep 2026",
    "key_numbers": [
        {
            "value": "225 million+",
            "label": "Developers on GitHub worldwide",
            "note": "GitHub Octoverse, Oct 2025 to Sep 2026"
        },
        {
            "value": "180 million+",
            "label": "Developers on GitHub in the 2025 report (earlier method, not directly comparable)",
            "note": "GitHub Octoverse 2025, Sep 2024 to Aug 2025",
            "stat": "web-development/github-developers-total"
        },
        {
            "value": "38.3 million",
            "label": "Developers on GitHub in the US, the largest country",
            "note": "GitHub Octoverse, Sep 2026"
        },
        {
            "value": "32.0 million",
            "label": "Developers on GitHub in India",
            "note": "GitHub Octoverse, Sep 2026"
        },
        {
            "value": "1,905,400",
            "label": "US jobs for software developers, QA analysts and testers",
            "note": "US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025",
            "stat": "web-development/us-software-developer-jobs"
        }
    ],
    "tables": [
        {
            "id": "measures",
            "title": "How many developers, by measure",
            "columns": [
                "Measure",
                "Count",
                "Period",
                "Source"
            ],
            "rows": [
                [
                    "Developers on GitHub worldwide",
                    "More than 225 million",
                    "Oct 2025 to Sep 2026",
                    "GitHub Octoverse"
                ],
                [
                    "Developers on GitHub worldwide (2025 report, earlier method)",
                    "More than 180 million",
                    "Sep 2024 to Aug 2025",
                    "GitHub Octoverse"
                ],
                [
                    "New developers joining GitHub in a year",
                    "More than 36 million",
                    "Sep 2024 to Aug 2025",
                    "GitHub Octoverse"
                ],
                [
                    "Developers on GitHub in the US",
                    "38.3 million",
                    "Sep 2026",
                    "GitHub Octoverse"
                ],
                [
                    "US jobs: software developers, QA analysts and testers",
                    "1,905,400",
                    "2025",
                    "US Bureau of Labor Statistics"
                ]
            ],
            "row_ids": [
                "measure-github-2026",
                "measure-github-2025",
                "measure-github-new",
                "measure-github-us",
                "measure-bls-jobs"
            ],
            "note": "GitHub counts developers using its platform, including students and hobbyists, and one person can hold more than one account. BLS counts paid jobs in the US. The two are not comparable."
        },
        {
            "id": "by-country",
            "title": "Developers on GitHub by country, September 2026",
            "columns": [
                "Country",
                "Developers on GitHub"
            ],
            "rows": [
                [
                    "United States",
                    "38.3 million"
                ],
                [
                    "India",
                    "32.0 million"
                ],
                [
                    "China",
                    "12.4 million"
                ],
                [
                    "Brazil",
                    "10.2 million"
                ],
                [
                    "Japan",
                    "7.15 million"
                ],
                [
                    "United Kingdom",
                    "6.47 million"
                ],
                [
                    "Indonesia",
                    "6.34 million"
                ],
                [
                    "Germany",
                    "6.30 million"
                ],
                [
                    "Russia",
                    "5.07 million"
                ],
                [
                    "France",
                    "4.75 million"
                ]
            ],
            "row_ids": [
                "country-us",
                "country-india",
                "country-china",
                "country-brazil",
                "country-japan",
                "country-uk",
                "country-indonesia",
                "country-germany",
                "country-russia",
                "country-france"
            ],
            "note": "GitHub Octoverse 2026, top 10 countries. GitHub maps developers to countries by self-reported location. The US and India each added more than 10 million developers in the year.",
            "source": "github"
        },
        {
            "id": "history",
            "title": "Developers on GitHub, as first reported by GitHub (methods differ)",
            "columns": [
                "When",
                "Developers on GitHub",
                "Report"
            ],
            "rows": [
                [
                    "Early 2023",
                    "More than 100 million",
                    "Octoverse 2023 (8 Nov 2023), a milestone, not a full-year count"
                ],
                [
                    "Sep 2024 to Aug 2025",
                    "More than 180 million",
                    "Octoverse 2025 (28 Oct 2025), earlier method"
                ],
                [
                    "Oct 2025 to Sep 2026",
                    "More than 225 million",
                    "Octoverse 2026 (28 Oct 2026), new method"
                ]
            ],
            "row_ids": [
                "gh-2023",
                "gh-2025",
                "gh-2026"
            ],
            "note": "Not a trend series: each figure is as GitHub first published it, and the methods differ. Octoverse 2026 counts public and private activity over October to September; earlier reports used a September to August window. GitHub says it recalculated 2024 and 2025 on the new definitions, so they may differ from earlier reports, but its 2026 post gives no recalculated worldwide total. Do not read the change from 180 million to 225 million as one year's growth.",
            "source": "github"
        }
    ],
    "sources": [
        {
            "name": "Octoverse",
            "publisher": "GitHub",
            "type": "vendor",
            "url": "https://github.blog/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Occupational Outlook Handbook",
            "publisher": "US Bureau of Labor Statistics",
            "type": "official",
            "url": "https://www.bls.gov/"
        }
    ],
    "content_changed_on": "2026-10-31",
    "page_url": "https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/web-development/number-of-developers",
    "csv_url": "https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/web-development/number-of-developers.csv"
}