Estonia has fallen four places in the World Bank Doing Business index, having been ranked 16th in the 2019 report.
The World Bank Doing Business 2019 index covers regulations affecting 11 areas of the life of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and labour market regulation. However, the labour market regulation data are not included in this year’s ranking on the ease of doing business, the report said.
Overall, Estonia ranks 16th in the index, which is four spots lower than in the last year’s index. The report, however, doesn’t explain why the country has dropped.
Estonia is doing best in the registering property category, ranking sixth in the world. However, in the protecting minority investors category, the country fares the worst, having been ranked only 83rd in the world. Estonia’s overall ease of doing business score is 80.50 out of a possible 100.
Lithuania fares better than Estonia
The index is topped by New Zealand, followed by Singapore, Denmark and Hong Kong. Lithuania is ranked 14th – two spots above Estonia; Finland 17th; Latvia 19th; and Russia 31st.
The worst countries to do business in are Somalia, Eritrea and Venezuela.
The World Bank’s Doing Business 2019 index is the 16th in a series of annual reports investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulation and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 190 economies.
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Cover: High-rise commercial buildings in Tallinn city centre (the image is illustrative).
