I don't think this relationship really holds. It's really more like: in every non-US country the overwhelming demand is for CRUD stuff. The demand for non-CRUD software is almost exclusively an American phenomenon.
This is, of course, somewhat of a generalization, but I do believe the trend holds true.
I grew up in Canada, where the software scene is very heavily CRUD. The main CS employers in town are such exciting names as SAP, IBM, TD Bank, Royal Bank, Bank of Montreal, and Scotia Bank. I spy a pattern. The demand for "higher level" programmers is tiny (there's a Mozilla outpost, and a small smattering of startups few people even know about).
From talking with friends internationally, it seems like this is the case in the UK and France also - all highly developed countries.
The only place where I've seen any substantial opportunities for C++, 3D, compilers, and other non-CRUD code is in the US.