The IT sector salaries are highest in the world in Switzerland at an average of USD 167,890 (about Rs 87 lakh) per annum, as per a study titled 'World wide IT Salary 2011'.
The study, conducted by global recruitment service provider MyHiringClub.com, found that India is ranked ranked seventh on a list of the 10 worst IT paymasters globally.
On the other hand, Switzerland stands at the top spot among the top-paying nations in the IT sector. The study took into account the average salaries for people with six and more years of experience for the Indian and other companies.
The report compared the total annual cash compensation and total remuneration information for IT staff in more than 6,000 companies across 41 different countries and found that employers in western Europe are the best paymasters.
It also found that compensation in developed countries focus more on variable factors, such as bonus schemes, to attract staff. At the same time, the emphasis remains on cash compensation in the lower-paying countries.
"The impact of outsourcing and off-shoring on IT roles in North America and Western Europe helps explain the pattern of global pay. Lower-level roles are being moved to regions where talent is cheaper," MyHiringClub.com CEO Rajesh Kumar said.
"India continues to be amongst the leading destinations for IT development, given its cost advantage. However, salary inflation and talent shortage could emerge as major challenges in maintaining this position in future," he added.
IT managers in India, however, fare better than their peers in Vietnam, Bulgaria, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, where the average annual salaries were even lower at USD 28,940, USD 32,560, USD 32,980, USD 33,000 and USD 35,870, respectively.
Also, large pay gaps exist between the junior and senior career streams in India, Indonesia, Chile, Brazil and Vietnam, the survey said.
Among the best IT salaries paying countries, Switzerland was followed by Belgium at the second spot with an average annual salary of USD 1,42,570.
Denmark came third in the best-paid list with average IT sector salary of USD 1,32,430, followed by the UK and the US in the to-five, with average packages of USD 1,26,570 and USD 1,21,460 respectively.
Others on the top-ten included Ireland, Canada, Germany, Australia and Hong Kong.