The Philippines ranks 20th globally for English proficiency. India ranks 60th.
That's a 40-position gap on the EF English Proficiency Index 2023—and it matters more than you might think when building software teams.
Here's what that difference looks like in daily Slack conversations, code reviews, client calls, and technical documentation. And why Australian and US companies increasingly choose Philippine developers when communication quality is non-negotiable.
Philippines:
India:
For comparison:
Source: EF English Proficiency Index 2023, based on testing of 2.2 million adults worldwide
Official literacy data:
Here's the strongest validation of Philippine English proficiency:
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Industry (2024):
This isn't theoretical. 1.3 million Filipinos are hired specifically because Western companies trust them to communicate with their English-speaking customers. Daily.
If communication quality was an issue, this industry wouldn't exist at this scale.
The Philippines is one of the few Asian countries where English is an official language (alongside Filipino).
Historical foundation:
Contrast with other countries:
Philippine education structure:
Result: By the time Filipino students graduate, they've been learning in English for 12-16 years. Not just studying English as a subject—using it as the language of instruction.
Media consumption:
Workplace reality:
Let's move from statistics to practical realities.
Example 1: Pull Request Comments
Philippine developer (typical):
"I've refactored the authentication middleware to use JWT refresh tokens
instead of session cookies. This reduces database load by 40% during peak
traffic. I've added unit tests covering the edge cases we discussed—
expired tokens, concurrent refresh attempts, and revoked credentials.
One concern: the token refresh endpoint now needs rate limiting. Should
I implement this in this PR or create a separate ticket?"
Clear. Precise. Proactive. Natural business English.
Compare to non-fluent developer:
"I change authentication. Now is JWT, not session. Tests added.
Should limit rate?"
Both convey information. But one requires zero mental translation. The other forces you to decode intent.
Philippine developers on client calls:
Real client testimonial (Australian construction SaaS company):
"The first time I hopped on a call with the Manila team, I forgot they weren't in Sydney. The accent is neutral, the idioms are Western, and they actually understand sarcasm—which sounds silly but matters in day-to-day team dynamics."
Daily Slack communication example:
Developer: "Hey @sarah, I noticed the CSV export is timing out
for datasets over 50k rows. I've implemented streaming export
with chunked responses—users can now download 500k+ rows without
timeouts. Want to review the PR before I merge?"
PM: "Nice catch! Does this affect memory usage on the server?"
Developer: "Good question. Memory stays flat because we're streaming
instead of loading everything into memory. I've tested with 1M rows—
no spikes. CPU usage increases about 15% during export but returns
to baseline immediately after."
This is business-fluent English. No grammatical errors, no awkward phrasing, and critically—proactive problem-solving explained clearly.
Filipino developers can write clear technical documentation without editing:
Example: API endpoint documentation written by Philippine developer:
## POST /api/v1/projects/{id}/tasks Creates a new task within the specified project. **Authentication:** Required (Bearer token) **Rate limit:** 100 requests per minute **Request body:** - `title` (string, required): Task name, max 200 characters - `description` (string, optional): Detailed task description - `assignee_id` (integer, optional): User ID to assign task to - `due_date` (ISO 8601, optional): Task deadline **Example request:** [...clear example...] **Error responses:** - `400 Bad Request`: Invalid task data (missing required fields) - `401 Unauthorized`: Invalid or missing authentication token - `403 Forbidden`: User lacks permission to create tasks in this project - `404 Not Found`: Project doesn't exist or user doesn't have access
No editing needed. Ready to publish.
Australian companies especially benefit:
Sydney to Manila:
Melbourne-based construction tech company workflow:
9 AM Melbourne: Morning stand-up with Manila team (11 AM Manila time)
10 AM - 5 PM: Continuous collaboration via Slack
5 PM Melbourne: Handoff for overnight work
6 PM - 2 AM Melbourne time: Manila team develops features
7 AM Melbourne: Code review ready for Australian team
The communication quality makes this work. If every message required clarification or re-explanation, the time zone advantage would evaporate.
San Francisco to Manila:
Real example (Chicago SaaS company):
"Our Chicago team pushes code at end of day (5 PM CST). Manila team picks it up at 8 AM their time (6 PM CST). They test, fix bugs, add features overnight. By our 8 AM, code review and QA fixes are waiting. We're shipping features in 24-hour cycles instead of 48-72 hours."
This only works because:
London to Manila:
How UK companies make it work:
India outsourcing reality:
We're not saying Indian developers can't communicate. Many speak excellent English. But:
Result: More communication friction. More clarification cycles. More time spent decoding intent.
Eastern Europe:
Latin America:
The Philippines difference:
Before: Worked with Eastern European developers
"Communication was our biggest pain point. They were technically strong, but every requirements call turned into 90 minutes instead of 30. We'd say 'let's build a dashboard for project managers,' and they'd implement something technically correct but not what we meant. Constant re-work."
After: Switched to Philippine team
"First sprint with the Manila team, they asked clarifying questions that showed they understood the business context, not just the technical spec. 'Are project managers using this on desktop or mobile? How often do they need real-time updates vs. daily summaries?' These are the questions our Australian developers would ask. The communication gap disappeared."
Why they chose Philippines over India:
"We interviewed teams in both countries. Technical skills were comparable. But in client demos, our customers need to feel comfortable. When our offshore team joins customer onboarding calls, they need to sound professional and clear. The Philippine team we hired sounds like they're calling from Austin. Our customers don't even ask where they're located."
Async communication quality:
"Time zones mean we rarely talk live. Everything is Slack, Notion, and GitHub. The Manila team writes better documentation than some of our London devs. Their PR descriptions are mini-design documents. Their Slack updates are clear status reports. We don't lose productivity to async because the writing quality is there."
Don't just take rankings at face value. Here's how to validate communication skills:
What to assess:
Red flag: If they need questions repeated or translated to simpler English, communication will be a daily friction point.
Give a realistic scenario:
"A client reports that their CSV exports are timing out for large datasets. Write a Slack message to the client explaining the issue and your proposed solution."
What you're looking for:
Philippine developers typically excel at this because they've been writing business English for years.
Ask them to review a sample pull request and write comments.
Example evaluation:
Good (typical Philippine developer):
"The caching implementation looks solid, but I have a concern about
memory usage. If we cache all user sessions indefinitely, we'll hit
memory limits on larger deployments. Suggest adding TTL or implementing
LRU eviction. Happy to pair on this if you'd like."
Poor (communication barrier):
"Cache is memory problem. Need TTL fix."
Ask about their experience working with Western teams:
Philippine developers often have BPO experience or have worked with US/Australian companies. They understand Western business culture and communication norms.
Technical skills matter. But if you can't communicate clearly, you can't build software effectively.
The Philippines' 96% literacy rate, official English status, and $38.7 billion BPO industry aren't accidents. They're the result of decades of English-medium education and cultural immersion.
When you hire Filipino developers, you're not compromising on communication to save costs. You're getting:
✅ Ranked 20th globally for English proficiency (vs. India's 60th) ✅ Natural business English from years of Western client work ✅ Clear written communication for async work ✅ Cultural alignment with US/UK/Australian business norms ✅ Zero translation delays in requirements, code reviews, client calls ✅ Time zone advantage (especially for Australia)
And you're still saving 60-70% vs. US/UK developer rates.
Ready to work with a Philippine development team? Our Manila-based developers average 6+ years working with Western companies. Fluent English, strong technical skills, and proven track record with Australian and US clients.
Schedule a consultation to meet the team →
Q: Is the Philippine accent difficult to understand on calls?
Philippine English accent is close to American English (due to historical US influence). Most clients describe it as "neutral" and easier to understand than Indian or Eastern European accents. BPO industry success ($38.7B) is proof—companies hire Filipinos specifically for clear communication.
Q: How does Philippine English compare to Singapore or Malaysia?
Singapore ranks 3rd globally (635), Malaysia 27th (566), Philippines 20th (578). All three are excellent. Philippines has cost advantage: developers charge $25-35/hour vs. $60-80/hour in Singapore/Malaysia.
Q: Will I need to "simplify" my English when communicating?
No. Filipino developers work with Western companies daily. They understand business idioms ("circle back," "low-hanging fruit," "move the needle") and technical jargon naturally.
Q: What about written communication for documentation?
This is a strength. Filipino developers write clear technical documentation, user guides, and API docs without editing. English-medium education from elementary school onward means writing proficiency is high.
Q: Do Filipino developers understand Australian/British English differences?
Yes. The Philippines has strong ties to both US and Commonwealth countries. Developers working with Australian clients quickly adapt to "whilst," "programme," etc. It's not a barrier.
Q: How can I assess English proficiency during hiring?
Conduct technical interviews verbally, ask for written communication samples (Slack messages, documentation), and review code comment quality. Our article on hiring Filipino developers covers assessment frameworks.
About the author: Jomar Montuya is the founder of Medianeth, a Philippine software development agency. With 8+ years building software for US, UK, and Australian clients, he's worked with 50+ companies that chose the Philippines specifically for communication quality and technical expertise. His Manila-based team maintains 96%+ client satisfaction scores, with communication clarity cited as the top reason for renewals.
Founder & CEO
With 8+ years building software from the Philippines, Jomar has served 50+ US, Australian, and UK clients. He specializes in construction SaaS, enterprise automation, and helping Western companies build high-performing Philippine development teams.
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