The world’s best places to do business

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.

Source: World Bank Open Data
 

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