British software firms generated more than double the global turnover of their German and French counterparts for 2008, according to the EuroSoftware100.

Complied by the European Software Association, comprising France (AFDEL), UK (BASDA) and tax and advisory service PricewaterhouseCoopers, the list revealed that the UK companies featured achieved worldwide turnover of €13.3bn (£11.5bn).

German and French software companies that appeared on the list produced €4.3bn and €1.2bn respectively.

According to the EuroSoftware100, UK firms make up 15 per cent of the top 100 software companies in Europe, with Sage topping the UK chart and Misys and Logica securing second and third place respectively. Their combined turnover totalled €1.5bn (£1.3bn).

However, due to the dominance of SAP in Germany, the top-three German companies boasted €8.9bn (£7.4bn) between them for 2008.

Jass Sarai, head of software and IT services at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, said: “Following significant UK presence in the Top 100, the UK’s strength lies in the number of smaller companies ranked in the top 200.

“In fact, 33 UK businesses were ranked on this extended list, producing total global revenue of €26bn - four per cent of the €617bn produced by top 200 companies in total," he said.

“These are challenging times for the UK software industry. The companies that seize the opportunities provided by technological shifts, which innovate and remain agile, will emerge stronger as the market reshapes itself,” added Sarai.

In 2008, the European market represented 30 per cent of the overall worldwide software market generating a turnover of approximately €56bn (£48.5bn).