The eight edition of Forbes annual ranking of the Best Countries for Business was published on Wednesday. For the first time, Ireland was named the best country for business, moving up from its No.6 ranking last year, despite recent economic turmoil.
The magazine determined this year’s Best Countries for Business evaluating 145 countries on the basis of 11 different factors including property rights, taxes, technology, freedom (personal, trade and monetary), corruption, innovation, investor protection, red tape, and stock market performance. They collected data from reports by the World Bank, Freedom House, Heritage Foundation, Property Rights Alliance, World Economic Forum, and Transparency International.
Ireland tops the list for the first time with high scores in all 11 measured factors and overall business friendliness. Last year, the country was far behind, on 6th position, but in 2013, it improved its monetary freedom – assessment of price stability and price controls. The stock market has also seen fast improvement, while Ireland has managed to attract huge direct foreign investments. According to the October report by the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland, the country was the fourth biggest recipient of U.S. foreign direct investment in 2012.
On the other hand, the U.S. drops to No.14 from No. 12 last year. On the second position, the magazine ranked New Zealand, which has the smallest economy in the top 10 ($170 billion), but it has also one of the fastest growing economies with GDP up 2.5% in 2012. For the second year in a row, Hong Kong ranks third, followed by the Scandinavian countries of Denmark at No.4 and Sweden at No.5.
Here are the Top 25 Countries for Business
- Ireland
- New Zealand
- Hong Kong
- Denmark
- Sweden
- Finland
- Singapore
- Canada
- Norway
- Netherlands
- Australia
- United Kingdom
- Belgium
- United States
- Iceland
- Switzerland
- Slovenia
- Taiwan
- France
- Portugal
- Luxemburg
- Chile
- Estonia
- Germany
- Lithuania
As a whole, Europe dominates the top 25, while African countries make up 70% of the bottom ten with high levels of corruption, red tape, and taxes – Guinea (No.145), Chad (No.144), Myanmar (No.143), Zimbabwe (No.142), Angola (No.141), Venezuela (No.140), Haiti (No.139), Ethiopia (No.138), Gambia (No.137), and Libya (No.136). Among the Middle Eastern countries, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar are the highest ranking, at positions 26, 31, and 40, respectively.
