Blog Post Dashboards: Overview
Share of EU Repository Creation by Country
Common open source-based software and hardware platforms are the arteries of a modern digital economy. They enable startups to innovate faster, public administrations to collaborate, and society to trust the digital services it depends on. Our earlier work shows a cost-benefit ratio of 1:4 for investments in open code. A 10% increase in such investments would also generate an estimated 0.4% to 0.6% GDP growth and more than 600 additional ICT start-ups in the EU—figures that are still modest compared to other research. Yet today, the development and long-term maintenance of these open technologies are underfunded and fragmented. At the same time, open source is progressively being positioned as key to Europe’s digital sovereignty, security and competitiveness, where commercialization and a strong vendor ecosystem are key success factors.
Share of OS Companies by Country in all EU-27 OS Companies
Recent data shows that while Europe accounts for a substantial share of global developers, its contribution to open-source infrastructure remains fragmented across countries, with activity – as measured by the number of GitHub commits - concentrated to a small number of Member States.
Cumulative Open-Source Repositories
Top 10 countries and EU aggregate.
Open-source development in Europe remains heavily dependent on individual effort, short-term research funding, or volunteer labor, with limited mechanisms to support long-term maintenance, scaling, and institutional ownership. As a consequence, Europe produces code, but too rarely produces the durable digital infrastructure on which competitiveness, resilience, and technological autonomy depend.
Cumulative Share of Global Open-Source Repositories
Top 10 countries and EU aggregate.
In the early years, the United States accounts for close to half of the global open-source repository base (≈45–50%), reflecting its early and sustained investment in digital platforms and ecosystems. Over time, this share gradually declines—not due to contraction, but because other regions expand. China’s share rises steadily from a low base and now accounts for roughly one tenth of the global cumulative stock (≈10%), consistent with its long-term industrial strategy and coordinated state-capital investment. Europe, even when aggregated, stabilizes at just over one fifth of the global total (≈22–25%), remaining structurally below the United States and increasingly challenged by China.
Professionalization: EU-27 vs United States vs China
Professionalization: EU-27 vs United States vs China
Professionalization: Repositories per Organization
Professionalization: Repositories per Organization
Professionalization: Share of GitHub Commits by EU-27 Countries in 2023
Professionalization: Share of GitHub Commits by EU-27 Countries in 2023
Professionalization: EU-27 Normalized by Population Size
Professionalization: EU-27 Normalized by Population Size
Maintenance: Commit intensity: The EU-27 in an international comparison
Maintenance: Commit intensity: The EU-27 in an international comparison
Maintenance: Retention rate, EU-27 vs United States vs China
Maintenance: Retention rate, EU-27 vs United States vs China
Maintenance: Turnover rate, EU-27 vs United States vs China
Maintenance: Turnover rate, EU-27 vs United States vs China
Maintenance: Commit intensity across the EU-27 countries in 2023
Maintenance: Commit intensity across the EU-27 countries in 2023
Maintenance: Retention rate across the EU-27 countries in 2023
Maintenance: Retention rate across the EU-27 countries in 2023
Maintenance: Turnover rate across the EU-27 countries in 2023
Maintenance: Turnover rate across the EU-27 countries in 2023