Time required to start a business, male (days) - Country Ranking

Definition: Time required to start a business is the number of calendar days needed to complete the procedures to legally operate a business. If a procedure can be speeded up at additional cost, the fastest procedure, independent of cost, is chosen.

Source: World Bank, Doing Business project (http://www.doingbusiness.org/).

See also: Thematic map, Time series comparison

Find indicator:
Rank Country Value Year
1 Venezuela 230.00 2019
2 Lao PDR 173.00 2019
3 Cambodia 99.00 2019
4 Haiti 97.00 2019
5 Eritrea 84.00 2019
6 Bosnia and Herzegovina 80.00 2019
7 Iran 72.00 2019
8 Somalia 70.00 2019
9 Suriname 66.00 2019
10 Chad 58.00 2019
11 Namibia 54.00 2019
12 Congo 49.00 2019
13 Ecuador 48.50 2019
14 Belize 48.00 2019
14 Botswana 48.00 2019
16 Liechtenstein 46.00 2019
17 Honduras 42.00 2019
18 Papua New Guinea 41.00 2019
19 Yemen 40.00 2019
19 South Africa 40.00 2019
19 Fiji 40.00 2019
22 Bolivia 39.50 2019
23 Malawi 37.00 2019
23 Poland 37.00 2019
25 Angola 36.00 2019
26 Libya 35.00 2019
26 Paraguay 35.00 2019
28 Sudan 34.00 2019
29 Philippines 33.00 2019
29 Equatorial Guinea 33.00 2019
31 Ethiopia 32.00 2019
31 Seychelles 32.00 2019
33 Kiribati 31.00 2019
34 Tanzania 29.50 2019
35 Palau 28.00 2019
36 Zimbabwe 27.00 2019
37 Iraq 26.00 2019
37 Peru 26.00 2019
39 Czech Republic 24.50 2019
40 Uganda 24.00 2019
41 Kenya 23.00 2019
41 Costa Rica 23.00 2019
41 Bulgaria 23.00 2019
44 Nepal 22.50 2019
45 Central African Republic 22.00 2019
46 Eswatini 21.50 2019
46 Slovak Republic 21.50 2019
48 Austria 21.00 2019
49 Malta 20.50 2019
50 Romania 20.00 2019
51 Croatia 19.50 2019
51 Bangladesh 19.50 2019
53 Kuwait 19.00 2019
53 Antigua and Barbuda 19.00 2019
55 St. Kitts and Nevis 18.50 2019
56 Liberia 18.00 2019
56 Vanuatu 18.00 2019
56 Guyana 18.00 2019
56 Algeria 18.00 2019
60 India 17.47 2019
61 Mozambique 17.00 2019
61 Malaysia 17.00 2019
63 Brazil 16.62 2019
64 Pakistan 16.50 2019
64 Dominican Republic 16.50 2019
64 Luxembourg 16.50 2019
64 El Salvador 16.50 2019
68 Tonga 16.00 2019
68 Barbados 16.00 2019
68 Vietnam 16.00 2019
68 Comoros 16.00 2019
72 Guinea 15.00 2019
72 Guatemala 15.00 2019
72 Syrian Arab Republic 15.00 2019
72 Lebanon 15.00 2019
72 Lesotho 15.00 2019
72 North Macedonia 15.00 2019
78 Djibouti 14.00 2019
78 Nicaragua 14.00 2019
80 Finland 13.00 2019
80 Cameroon 13.00 2019
80 Timor-Leste 13.00 2019
80 Burkina Faso 13.00 2019
80 Ghana 13.00 2019
85 Indonesia 12.64 2019
86 Spain 12.50 2019
87 Dominica 12.00 2019
87 Bhutan 12.00 2019
87 Jordan 12.00 2019
87 Egypt 12.00 2019
87 Mongolia 12.00 2019
87 Grenada 12.00 2019
87 Montenegro 12.00 2019
94 San Marino 11.50 2019
94 Argentina 11.50 2019
94 Iceland 11.50 2019
94 The Bahamas 11.50 2019
98 Japan 11.15 2019
99 St. Lucia 11.00 2019
99 Israel 11.00 2019
99 Italy 11.00 2019
99 Ireland 11.00 2019
99 Mali 11.00 2019
104 Trinidad and Tobago 10.50 2019
105 Russia 10.10 2019
106 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 10.00 2019
106 Kyrgyz Republic 10.00 2019
106 Switzerland 10.00 2019
106 Colombia 10.00 2019
106 Gabon 10.00 2019
106 Saudi Arabia 10.00 2019
106 Niger 10.00 2019
113 Morocco 9.00 2019
113 Samoa 9.00 2019
113 Solomon Islands 9.00 2019
113 Tunisia 9.00 2019
113 Cabo Verde 9.00 2019
118 China 8.55 2019
119 Belarus 8.50 2019
119 Qatar 8.50 2019
119 Zambia 8.50 2019
122 Mexico 8.42 2019
123 Sri Lanka 8.00 2019
123 Korea 8.00 2019
123 Afghanistan 8.00 2019
123 Benin 8.00 2019
123 The Gambia 8.00 2019
123 Guinea-Bissau 8.00 2019
123 Germany 8.00 2019
123 Sierra Leone 8.00 2019
123 Slovenia 8.00 2019
123 Bahrain 8.00 2019
123 Madagascar 8.00 2019
134 Sweden 7.50 2019
135 Nigeria 7.23 2019
136 Myanmar 7.00 2019
136 Serbia 7.00 2019
136 Turkey 7.00 2019
136 Tajikistan 7.00 2019
136 São Tomé and Principe 7.00 2019
136 Hungary 7.00 2019
136 Dem. Rep. Congo 7.00 2019
143 Portugal 6.50 2019
143 Ukraine 6.50 2019
143 Uruguay 6.50 2019
146 Côte d'Ivoire 6.00 2019
146 Cyprus 6.00 2019
146 Thailand 6.00 2019
146 Senegal 6.00 2019
146 Panama 6.00 2019
146 Mauritania 6.00 2019
152 Lithuania 5.50 2019
152 Latvia 5.50 2019
152 Puerto Rico 5.50 2019
155 Brunei 5.00 2019
155 Belgium 5.00 2019
155 Kazakhstan 5.00 2019
155 Burundi 5.00 2019
159 Albania 4.50 2019
159 United Kingdom 4.50 2019
159 Mauritius 4.50 2019
162 United States 4.20 2019
163 Rwanda 4.00 2019
163 Chile 4.00 2019
163 France 4.00 2019
163 Norway 4.00 2019
163 Oman 4.00 2019
163 Greece 4.00 2019
163 Armenia 4.00 2019
163 Moldova 4.00 2019
171 Azerbaijan 3.50 2019
171 United Arab Emirates 3.50 2019
171 Estonia 3.50 2019
171 Denmark 3.50 2019
171 Netherlands 3.50 2019
176 Jamaica 3.00 2019
176 Uzbekistan 3.00 2019
178 Togo 2.50 2019
179 Australia 2.00 2019
180 Singapore 1.50 2019
180 Hong Kong SAR, China 1.50 2019
180 Canada 1.50 2019
183 Georgia 1.00 2019
184 New Zealand 0.50 2019

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Development Relevance: The economic health of a country is measured not only in macroeconomic terms but also by other factors that shape daily economic activity such as laws, regulations, and institutional arrangements. The data measure business regulation, gauge regulatory outcomes, and measure the extent of legal protection of property, the flexibility of employment regulation, and the tax burden on businesses. The fundamental premise of this data is that economic activity requires good rules and regulations that are efficient, accessible to all who need to use them, and simple to implement. Thus sometimes there is more emphasis on more regulation, such as stricter disclosure requirements in related-party transactions, and other times emphasis is on for simplified regulations, such as a one-stop shop for completing business startup formalities. Entrepreneurs may not be aware of all required procedures or may avoid legally required procedures altogether. But where regulation is particularly onerous, levels of informality are higher, which comes at a cost: firms in the informal sector usually grow more slowly, have less access to credit, and employ fewer workers - and those workers remain outside the protections of labor law. The indicator can help policymakers understand the business environment in a country and - along with information from other sources such as the World Bank's Enterprise Surveys - provide insights into potential areas of reform.

Limitations and Exceptions: The Doing Business methodology has limitations that should be considered when interpreting the data. First, the data collected refer to businesses in the economy's largest city and may not represent regulations in other locations of the economy. To address this limitation, subnational indicators are being collected for selected economies. These subnational studies point to significant differences in the speed of reform and the ease of doing business across cities in the same economy. Second, the data often focus on a specific business form - generally a limited liability company of a specified size - and may not represent regulation for other types of businesses such as sole proprietorships. Third, transactions described in a standardized business case refer to a specific set of issues and may not represent the full set of issues a business encounters. Fourth, the time measures involve an element of judgment by the expert respondents. When sources indicate different estimates, the Doing Business time indicators represent the median values of several responses given under the assumptions of the standardized case. Fifth, the methodology assumes that a business has full information on what is required and does not waste time when completing procedures.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Data are collected by the World Bank with a standardized survey that uses a simple business case to ensure comparability across economies and over time - with assumptions about the legal form of the business, its size, its location, and nature of its operation. Surveys are administered through more than 9,000 local experts, including lawyers, business consultants, accountants, freight forwarders, government officials, and other professionals who routinely administer or advise on legal and regulatory requirements. Entrepreneurs around the world face a range of challenges. One of them is inefficient regulation. The indicator measures the procedures, time, cost and paid-in minimum capital required for a small or medium-size limited liability company to start up and formally operate. The Doing Business project of the World Bank encompasses two types of data: data from readings of laws and regulations and data on time and motion indicators that measure efficiency in achieving a regulatory goal. Within the time and motion indicators cost estimates are recorded from official fee schedules where applicable. The data from surveys are subjected to numerous tests for robustness, which lead to revision or expansion of the information collected.

Aggregation method: Unweighted average

Periodicity: Annual

General Comments: Data are presented for the survey year instead of publication year.