The World Bank annual report «Doing Business 2019» gave Greece an overall ranking of 72nd place out of 190 countries, in terms of regulatory improvements and practices that afford businesses an efficient and productive environment to thrive in.
In the World Bank Group’s annual ease of doing business rankings, the top 10 economies are New Zealand, Singapore and Denmark, which retain their first, second and third spots, respectively, for a second consecutive year, followed by Hong Kong SAR, China; Republic of Korea; Georgia; Norway; United States; United Kingdom and FYROM.
In notable changes to the top 20 ranked economies this year, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) joins the grouping for the first time, in 11th place, while Malaysia and Mauritius regain spots, in 15th and 20th places, respectively. During the past year, Malaysia implemented six reforms, Mauritius five, and the UAE four. The reforms in Mauritius included the elimination of a gender-based barrier to equalize the field between men and women in starting a business.
This year’s top 10 improvers, based on reforms undertaken, are Afghanistan, Djibouti, China, Azerbaijan, India, Togo, Kenya, Côte d'Ivoire, Turkey and Rwanda. With six reforms each, Djibouti and India are in the top 10 for a second consecutive year. Afghanistan and Turkey, top improvers for the first time, implemented record single-year reforms, with five and seven, respectively.
Ranking last are Sudan, Libya, Yemen, Venezouela, Eritrea and Somalia.
Categories:
- Starting a business: Greece ranks 44th
- Building Development Applications Process: Greece ranks 39th, indicating an improvement from previous years
- Payment of Taxes: Greece ranks 65th, with the report noting that business in Greece pay almost 51.9% of their profits towards taxes
- Power Supply: Greece ranks 79th place, with the report noting that the process of applying for electricity supply is over complicated and could take 55 days
- International trade: Greece ranks 31st place.
- Bankruptcy Resolutions: Greece ranks in 62nd place.
