$7500 a month: in which country do Ukrainian IT specialists earn the most.

According to research by DOU, Ukrainian IT professionals with 3-5 years of experience working abroad earn an average salary that is 34% higher than their colleagues who stayed in Ukraine.

The majority of Ukrainian IT specialists abroad live in Europe - 92%, while about 3% work in the USA and Canada. The largest number of Ukrainian specialists reside in Poland - 39%, Spain - 5%, Germany and Romania - 5% each, Portugal and Bulgaria - 4% each, and the Czech Republic and Slovakia - 3% each.

More than half of the IT specialists working abroad still maintain registration through a Ukrainian individual entrepreneur or work under a gig contract

Interestingly, predominantly more experienced specialists have moved abroad. Among those who relocated, only 8% are juniors and interns, compared to 16% in Ukraine. Middle-level specialists also moved less frequently - 27% compared to 34% in Ukraine. The largest share among those who left are Senior+ level specialists: 60% of them, while in Ukraine, there are 45%.

Regarding salaries, the median 'net' salaries of specialists abroad are significantly higher than in Ukraine.

The highest median salary is received by those who moved to the USA - $7500 a month. Ukrainian IT specialists in Europe earn an average of $3500, while the median salary for IT specialists in Ukraine is $2500.

For experienced developers (5+ years of experience) in Europe, salaries are on average 8% higher than in Ukraine. The best salaries are in Spain ($5250) and Croatia ($5225), while the lowest median salaries are in Bulgaria ($4000) and Germany ($4500).

Information from the DOU research indicates that most Ukrainian IT specialists working abroad continue to use the Ukrainian individual entrepreneur structure or work under a gig contract. Among countries with official registrations, the most observed are the USA, Canada, the UK, Poland, and Germany.