The 2027 hiring report profiles four countries: Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Colombia. Brazil has the largest developer base, Mexico and Colombia sit closest to US Central time, and Argentina ranks highest for English proficiency. No country wins on every dimension, so match the country to your hours, budget and stack.
The table below puts the four countries side by side. Open a country page for its hubs, universities, time-zone overlap and the rates Plugg has seen there.
| Country | Population (2025) | GitHub developers (2024) | English proficiency rank (of 123) | Time zone (September) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mexico | about 131.9M | more than 1.9M | 103rd | UTC-6 |
| Brazil | about 212.8M | more than 5.4M | 75th | UTC-3 |
| Argentina | about 45.9M | more than 1.1M | 26th | UTC-3 |
| Colombia | about 53.4M | more than 1.0M | 76th | UTC-5 |
GitHub developers means active GitHub accounts, not employed engineers. The count includes students and people who do not work in software. English ranks come from the EF English Proficiency Index 2025 and describe whole populations, so test English in every interview.
What the report says about choosing a country
The report weighs time-zone overlap, compensation trends, ecosystem maturity, talent depth, cross-border infrastructure, collaboration model and regulatory predictability. Its conclusion is that no region wins on every dimension. Treat the choice as a trade-off and let your own constraints decide.