WB Doing Business: Macedonia Ranking among Top 10 Economies

Macedonia is among top 10 economies in the world according to the World Bank Doing Business 2017 report. In its global country rankings of business efficiency, Doing Business 2017 awarded its coveted top spot to New Zealand, Singapore ranks second, followed by Denmark; Hong Kong SAR, China; Republic of Korea; Norway; United Kingdom; United States; Sweden; and Macedonia.


A record 137 economies around the world have adopted key reforms that make it easier to start and operate small and medium­sized businesses, says Doing Business 2017: Equal Opportunity for All, the World Bank Group’s annual report on the ease of doing business.

Economies of the Europe and Central Asia region place among the top improvers in the report. The top ranked economy in the region is Macedonia, with a global ranking of 10. Thanks to past reforms it now takes an entrepreneur in Macedonia only two days to start a business, which is significantly less than the regional average of 10 days, the report reads.

Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 190 economies. Doing Business measures regulations affecting 11 areas of the life of a business. Ten of these areas are included in this year’s ranking on the ease of doing business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.

Doing Business also measures labor market regulation, which is not included in this year’s ranking. Data in Doing Business 2017 are current as of June 1, 2016. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms of business regulation have worked, where and why.