It’s easier to strike a business deal in Georgia and Norway than in the UK, says World Bank
The UK has dropped two places on a global ranking of the ease of doing business to be overtaken by Georgia and Norway, the World Bank revealed today.
The UK is now the ninth easiest country in the world to conduct business, down from seventh place in last year's report, as it's score for trading across borders dropped from 28 to 30.
In terms of starting a business, the UK ranked 19th in the world, down from 14th, and was 32nd on the list for ease of getting credit – a drop of three places.
The annual World Bank Doing Business report said that the UK had made improvements in supplying electricity, for which it ranked seventh globally, by “implementing several initiatives to expedite the external connection works performed by sub-contractors”.
New Zealand, Singapore and Denmark topped the rankings this year, while the top 10 improvers, ranked by the number of reforms aimed at reducing bureaucracy, were Afghanistan, Djibouti, China, Azerbaijan, India, Togo, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Turkey and Rwanda.
World Bank development economics and acting chief economist Shanta Devarajan said: “The diversity among the top improvers shows that economies of all sizes and income levels, and even those in conflict can advance the business climate for domestic small and and medium enterprises.
“Doing Business provides a road map that different governments can use to increase business confidence, innovation, and growth and reduce corruption.”