Outsourcing to Egypt
Egypt, India, the Philippines, Latin America or Poland: where to outsource in 2026
India has the largest IT workforce, the Philippines and Poland the strongest English of the eight, Latin America the US hours, and Egypt the European hours and Arabic. The 2026 numbers side by side: English, pay, sector size, hours and data law.
By GrowAxis team · · 4 min read
There is no single best country to outsource to. India has scale, the Philippines and Poland strong English, Latin America the US working day, and Egypt the European working day plus Arabic. This guide puts eight countries side by side on what decides the choice: English, pay, the size of the industry, the hours you share and the data law.
English (EF EPI 2025)
| Country | Rank | Score | IT staff | Customer service staff |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poland | 15 | 600 | 621 | 630 |
| Argentina | 26 | 575 | 589 | 617 |
| Philippines | 28 | 569 | 581 | 579 |
| India | 74 | 484 | 487 | 531 |
| Brazil | 75 | 482 | 551 | 538 |
| Colombia | 76 | 480 | 512 | 570 |
| Egypt | 89 | 458 | 492 | 483 |
| Mexico | 103 | 440 | 559 | 599 |
Software engineer pay
| Country | Median a year | Salaries in the sample |
|---|---|---|
| Egypt | EGP 554,595 | 428 |
| India | INR 3,064,062 | 21,679 |
| Philippines | PHP 951,000 | 93 |
| Mexico | MXN 877,555 | 494 |
| Colombia | COP 127,251,270 | 243 |
| Brazil | BRL 187,016 | 2,395 |
| Argentina | ARS 60,527,864 | 167 |
| Poland | PLN 268,566 | 1,528 |
Levels.fyi uses one method for all eight, so the figures compare; convert them at today’s rate. Its users lean towards larger tech employers, so typical market pay is lower: Payscale’s average base pay for a software engineer in Egypt was EGP 115,827 a year (166 profiles, September 2026).
The size of each industry
| Country | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| India | IT industry revenue $297 billion in FY25; 5.82 million people | Nasscom, via Storyboard18, February 2026 |
| Philippines | IT and business process export revenue above $40 billion in 2025; 1.9 million people | IBPAP, via Philstar, January 2026 |
| Poland | 500,500 people in 2,179 business services centres | ABSL |
| Brazil | ICT exports R$62.0 billion in 2025; 494,427 IT professionals | Brasscom, 2025 sector report |
| Argentina | Knowledge-economy exports $9.7 billion, July 2024 to June 2025; 283,500 jobs | Argencon, via Mercado, October 2025 |
| Colombia | BPO and KPO exports $2.9 billion; about 790,000 direct jobs | Valora Analitik, December 2025 |
| Egypt | Digital outsourcing exports $4.8 billion in 2025, up from $2.4 billion in 2022 | ICT Minister, via Ahram Online, November 2025 |
The hours you share
| Country | From New York | From Berlin |
|---|---|---|
| Egypt (Cairo) | +7 | +1 |
| India | +10.5 | +4.5 |
| Philippines (Manila) | +13 | +7 |
| Mexico (Mexico City) | -1 | -7 |
| Colombia (Bogotá) | Same time | -6 |
| Brazil (São Paulo) | +2 | -4 |
| Argentina (Buenos Aires) | +2 | -4 |
| Poland (Warsaw) | +6 | Same time |
Clocks change on different dates, so the gaps move by an hour for part of the year; Egypt has summer time from late April to late October.
The data law
| Country | Law | Regulator |
|---|---|---|
| Egypt | Personal Data Protection Law 151 of 2020; regulations of 2025, licences from 1 November 2026 | Personal Data Protection Centre |
| India | Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023; most duties from 13 May 2027 | Data Protection Board |
| Philippines | Data Privacy Act of 2012 | National Privacy Commission |
| Mexico | Federal Law on Protection of Personal Data Held by Private Parties, in force 21 March 2025 | Ministry of Anti-Corruption and Good Governance |
| Colombia | Law 1581 of 2012 | Superintendence of Industry and Commerce |
| Brazil | LGPD, in force since 18 September 2020 | ANPD |
| Argentina | Law 25,326 | Agency for Access to Public Information |
| Poland | GDPR and the Personal Data Protection Act of 2018 | Personal Data Protection Office (UODO) |
How to choose
- Hours first: the US East Coast shares most of its day with Latin America; Central Europe with Poland and Egypt; India and the Philippines suit follow-the-sun cover and overnight queues.
- Languages next: Egypt adds Arabic, French and German; Latin America Spanish and Portuguese; the Philippines and India English at scale.
- Data law: inside the EU, Poland needs no transfer basis; everywhere else, agree one in the contract.
- Then compare named providers and their monthly cost for the same role, not country averages.
Where GrowAxis fits
GrowAxis employs teams in Cairo for companies in Europe, the Gulf and North America: developers, QA, DevOps, data, SAP and Odoo, support in eight languages, and sales development. A mid-level software engineer costs about $2,500 a month, all in, at GrowAxis’s 2026 rates.
About this guide
Sources: EF EPI 2025 country fact sheets; Levels.fyi and Payscale country pages; Nasscom, IBPAP, ABSL, Brasscom, Argencon and the Colombian BPrO report as reported in the press; DLA Piper’s data protection guides and Hogan Lovells on Mexico; all checked on 4 November 2026. Written by the GrowAxis team, which employs people in Egypt, so read the Egypt lines with that in mind.
FAQ
Is Egypt or India better for outsourcing?
It depends on the work. India has by far the largest IT workforce (5.82 million in FY25, Nasscom) and a slightly higher English score (rank 74 against Egypt’s 89 in EF EPI 2025). Egypt is one hour ahead of Central Europe, works in Arabic, French and German as well as English, and its outsourcing exports reached about $4.8 billion in 2025. For European hours and Arabic, Egypt fits; for scale, India.
Which country has the best English for outsourcing?
Of the eight compared, Poland (rank 15), Argentina (26) and the Philippines (28) score highest on EF EPI 2025; India is 74th, Brazil 75th, Colombia 76th, Egypt 89th and Mexico 103rd.
Which is the best country to outsource software development to?
No one country fits every team. Match the hours you need covered, the languages your customers speak, the data law you work under and the scale you need; then compare named providers, not countries.
Is Egypt cheaper than the Philippines?
Pay is close at the median in local terms, and both are far below Western Europe and the US. At GrowAxis’s 2026 rates, a mid-level software engineer in Egypt costs about $2,500 a month, all in; compare that with a quote for the same role elsewhere.