Oct. 30 – India has yet again reiterated its position as the top outsourcing destination in the world. According to a report released by CyberMedia and Tholons Research Group, six out of eight leading cities hail from India. Of the top 50 cities, 19 are from Asia and 13 from Central and Eastern Europe.

Six Indian cities including Bangalore, Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Pune are among the top eight global destinations for outsourcing of services along with Manila and Dublin. The next top ten outsourcing destinations considered to be “Top 10 Aspirants” hail from China, Vietnam, Poland, Argentina, Egypt and Brazil and include in rank order: Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi Krakow, Buenos Aires, Cairo and Sao Paulo.

The top outsourcing nations are India, Philippines, Ireland, China and Brazil. India continues to top the list with revenues of US$40 billion in IT-BPO export services in 2008. Indian IT-BPO export services posted 35 percent year on year growth rates in the last five years. The Philippines increased outsourcing revenues by an impressive 25 percent from US$4.8 billion in 2007 to US$6 billion in 2008 while increasing industry employment by 33 percent to an estimated 400,000 employees nationwide.

Interestingly India’s FDI inflows in IT-BPO services posted the largest increase globally at 46 percent in 2008, from US$25 billion to US$46 billion even as global FDI flows decreased from US$1.9 trillion to US$1.7 trillion and several developing economies struggled to acquire investments from client nations.

Compared to the last year’s results, this year’s study reveals minimal shifts in rankings because of the overall slowdown in the pace of outsourcing activity in the face of global recession.

Commenting on the study, Global Services Editor Ed Nair said in a statement: “With global outsourcing activity growing every year, the ‘emerging’ destinations are vying for a piece of the action. Though India and Philippines were the ones to occupy the pole positions first, many other countries are innovating to find a niche for themselves. The dynamics between these destinations is ultimately determined by a host of factors, which forms the basis of this study. Also, in many ways, this study is a study in globalization at its most granular level.”