Of the 18.2M software developers in the world, 1.2M are now publishing APIs for external use, according to Evans Data’s recently released Developer Population and Demographics Study. In addition, 4.7M publish APIs that are external but limited to their partners or registered associates.  Regionally, those publishing external APIs without restrictions are fairly evenly spread between APAC, EMEA and North America, with a much smaller contingent in Latin America, however the APAC region dominates in number of APIs published for partners/business associates.

“The Internet of Things and the proliferation of platforms across all industries have led to an explosion in the number of developers publishing APIs externally,” said Janel Garvin, CEO of Evans Data. “We expect that number to increase proportionately in relation to the population going into the next three years, and not just keep up with projected population growth.”

Not all APIs are published externally; 8.9M developers worldwide publish APIs for internal use only, with APAC again the leader. The APAC region, which includes China and India, is exhibiting the strongest growth of any region. The total developer population worldwide is expected to increase to 26.4 million by 2019, up from 18.2 million today, with India overtaking the United States in number of developers by that time.

Now in its 15th edition, Evans Data’s Worldwide Developer Population and Demographics Study is the result of exhaustive secondary research from respected sources including the World Bank data center, CIA World Factbook, US Census, Mobile World Congress, International Monetary Fund, National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), and numerous other regional and country-specific sources. These data inputs are combined in a proprietary computer model to estimate current populations and forecast population growth in the coming years. Additionally, Evans’ Global Development survey is over-layered on the population model to predict developer demographics plus the number of developers using a particular platform or language or adopting a particular technology.

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