The world’s best places to do business

New Zealand and Singapore are the easiest countries in the world to do business in. Africa, South America, and South Asia bring up the rear

The world’s best places to do business

Risk Management News

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The ease of doing business index ranks countries based on the conduciveness of their regulatory environments to business operations, with lower rank indicating favourable conditions. The data come from the World Bank’s Doing Business project, which measures business regulations and their enforcement across the globe. Efficient, accessible, and easily implemented rules and regulations lead to healthier economies and low risk of doing business. Countries scoring lower in the rankings are indicative of onerous regulations, high tax burdens, low levels of legal protection of property, or inflexibility of employment regulations.

Understanding the business environment in which a company operates helps risk managers better prepare for the challenges they may face. For example, companies expanding their operations to places like New Zealand, Singapore, or Denmark, which score highest in the rankings, will face fewer regulatory risks than Somalia, Eritrea, or Venezuela, which fall at the bottom of the list. In those countries, risk managers will be needed to mitigate the potential damage of conducting operations in an unfavourable business climate.

In 2017, Africa, South America, and South Asia contain the highest concentration of countries falling low on the index. Risk managers of companies with extensive supply chains or other operations within these regions will manage a larger litany of exposures than organisations who conduct business in low-scoring Europe and North America.

Top 20:
Rank (2017) Country Name
1 New Zealand
2 Singapore
3 Denmark
4 South Korea
5 Hong Kong
6 United States
7 United Kingdom
8 Norway
9 Georgia
10 Sweden
11 Macedonia
12 Estonia
13 Finland
14 Australia
15 Lithuania
16 Ireland
17 Canada
18 Latvia
19 Germany
20 United Arab Emirates

Bottom 20:
Rank (2017) Country Name
171 Myanmar
172 Liberia
173 Equatorial Guinea
174 Syria
175 Angola
176 Guinea-Bissau
177 Bangladesh
178 Timor-Leste
179 Rep. Congo
180 Chad
181 Haiti
182 Dem. Rep. Congo
183 Afghanistan
184 Central African Republic
185 Libya
186 Yemen
187 South Sudan
188 Venezuela
189 Eritrea
190 Somalia

 

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