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Programming Language Research 2025: Go Remains Dominant

The latest survey conducted by paiza, an IT job-hunting and learning platform based in Minato, Tokyo, reveals compelling insights into the programming language landscape for 2025. The report, which focuses on the income potential and employer demand for various programming languages, highlights Go as the highest-paying language for IT engineers for the third consecutive year.

Survey Highlights

1. Income Ranking: Go leads with an average salary of 7.23 million yen.
2. Employer Demand: JavaScript tops the list for most sought-after languages in job postings.
3. Emerging Trends: Analysis of popular languages over the past five years shows stability in demand for certain languages.
4. Hidden Gems: Kotlin, Swift, and Go emerge as the 'hidden gem' languages with low supply yet high demand.
5. Skill Evaluation: Insights on acquisition rates linked to programming proficiency offer a deeper understanding of market dynamics.

1. Income Rankings: Go on Top

According to the findings, Go has maintained its leading position with an average salary of 7.23 million yen. Following closely are TypeScript at 7.14 million yen and Ruby at 6.89 million yen. The methodology for arriving at these figures involved analyzing salary details from job postings listed on the paiza job platform for the years 2024 and 2025, aggregating central values for the reported salaries.

This impressive three-year streak is largely attributed to Go's superior capabilities in concurrent processing, making it indispensable for developing modern infrastructure for large web services and microservices.

2. Employer Demand: JavaScript Takes the Lead

In terms of employer requirements, JavaScript ranks first, accounting for 14.4% of job postings. It is followed by Java at 13.9% and PHP at 11.0%. This situation reflects the strong necessity perceived by companies to maintain and operate existing systems and large-scale services. Interestingly, Go, despite having the highest average salary, does not rank among the top ten in demand, indicating that while there may be fewer job openings, the value of Go skills remains high for specialized developers.

3. Trends in Programming Languages: Insights from paiza’s Data

paiza's survey, which includes inputs from professional members, indicates that Python and Java have solidified their positions as the dominant languages. The steady rankings suggest that demand in the market remains robust for these languages.
Python's supremacy in AI, machine learning, and data science continues to drive its popularity, while Java remains a foundational player in large-scale system development across finance and enterprise sectors.

4. Hidden Gems Trend: Kotlin, Swift, and Go

The rankings for 'hidden gem' languages for 2025 have remained unchanged from the previous year: Kotlin, Swift, and Go. This trend indicates a considerable gap between high demand and the number of qualified professionals. The situation with Go emphasizes the ongoing shortage of expertise in handling vast data during the development of large-scale applications, suggesting that opportunities in this area remain expansive.

5. Evaluation of Skill Proficiency by Language

In a further analysis of job acquisition rates based on programming language proficiency, Ruby emerges as the top language for new graduates, while C# takes the lead among experienced professionals. The findings suggest that proficiency directly correlates with higher job placement success rates, underlining the importance of skill acquisition in today’s market.

Concluding Thoughts

As we advance into the AI-driven age, the relevance of programming skills remains paramount. A recent survey conducted by paiza emphasizes that more than 70% of IT engineers still recognize the critical importance of programming amidst the advancing capabilities of generative AI.

To thrive, IT engineers must pursue continuous development beyond merely mastering widely taught skills, strategically shifting their skill set to remain relevant.

paiza is committed to fostering this growth by providing learning resources and tools to help IT professionals gain visibility for their skills. Our goal is to help individuals and organizations nurture talent in an environment defined by ongoing change. For those seeking a transformation in their careers, we encourage leveraging our tailored learning offerings designed to meet the demands of the evolving tech landscape.

About paiza

Founded in February 2012, paiza is an innovative platform designed for job placement, employment, and learning specifically for IT engineers. As of December 2025, paiza boasts 940,000 registered users and collaborates with over 4,900 companies for hiring needs. The statistics speak for themselves, with more than 34.8 million skill checks conducted through our system. At paiza, we envision a world transformed through exceptional talent, dedicated to facilitating continuous growth for both individuals and enterprises alike.