It is the second year in a row that Bloomberg has ranked countries based on their business climate. Bloomberg Rankings analyzed data from 11 sources. In all, 161 nations were ranked on six broad criteria that included the cost of starting a business, the cost of labour and materials and the cost of moving goods. The study also considered each country's level of global economic integration, the 'readiness' of its consumer base to participate in economic activity and 'less tangible' costs such as inflation and accounting adaptability.
Following the Netherlands on the top-ten list of business countries are Germany (5), Australia (6), Canada (6), Singapore (8), Denmark (9) and United Kingdom (10). BRIC countries made a relatively poor showing in the Bloomberg ranking. China dropped to 24th place from 19th in 2012, with India, Russia and Brazil ranking 54, 56 and 61, respectively.
Source: IPAWorld.com
Further information: Bloomberg, www.bloomberg.com