Time required to enforce a contract (days) - Country Ranking

Definition: Time required to enforce a contract is the number of calendar days from the filing of the lawsuit in court until the final determination and, in appropriate cases, payment.

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

See also: Thematic map, Time series comparison

Find indicator:
Rank Country Value Year
1 Guinea-Bissau 1,785.00 2019
2 Suriname 1,715.00 2019
3 Greece 1,711.00 2019
4 Afghanistan 1,642.00 2019
5 India 1,445.00 2019
6 Bangladesh 1,442.00 2019
7 Guatemala 1,402.00 2019
8 Trinidad and Tobago 1,340.00 2019
8 Barbados 1,340.00 2019
10 Sri Lanka 1,318.00 2019
11 Liberia 1,300.00 2019
12 Angola 1,296.00 2019
13 Colombia 1,288.00 2019
14 Timor-Leste 1,285.00 2019
15 São Tomé and Principe 1,185.00 2019
16 Slovenia 1,160.00 2019
16 Gabon 1,160.00 2019
16 Myanmar 1,160.00 2019
19 Italy 1,120.00 2019
20 Cyprus 1,100.00 2019
21 Pakistan 1,071.15 2019
22 Egypt 1,010.00 2019
23 Argentina 995.00 2019
24 Israel 975.00 2019
25 Philippines 962.00 2019
26 Eswatini 956.00 2019
27 Mozambique 950.00 2019
28 Honduras 920.00 2019
29 Seychelles 915.00 2019
30 Nepal 910.00 2019
30 Canada 910.00 2019
32 Belize 892.00 2019
33 Syrian Arab Republic 872.00 2019
34 Costa Rica 852.00 2019
35 Burundi 832.00 2019
36 Lao PDR 828.00 2019
37 El Salvador 816.00 2019
38 Madagascar 811.00 2019
39 Sudan 810.00 2019
39 Palau 810.00 2019
41 Brazil 801.20 2019
42 Cameroon 800.00 2019
43 Panama 790.00 2019
44 Slovak Republic 775.00 2019
45 The Gambia 758.00 2019
46 Portugal 755.00 2019
47 Chad 743.00 2019
48 Dominica 741.00 2019
49 Uruguay 725.00 2019
50 Lebanon 721.00 2019
51 Venezuela 720.00 2019
52 Ghana 710.00 2019
53 Djibouti 695.00 2019
54 Libya 690.00 2019
55 Grenada 688.00 2019
56 Poland 685.00 2019
57 Czech Republic 678.00 2019
58 Botswana 660.00 2019
58 Central African Republic 660.00 2019
58 Kiribati 660.00 2019
61 Croatia 650.00 2019
61 Ireland 650.00 2019
61 Senegal 650.00 2019
64 Yemen 645.00 2019
64 St. Lucia 645.00 2019
66 Jordan 642.00 2019
67 Liechtenstein 640.00 2019
68 Bahrain 635.00 2019
69 North Macedonia 634.00 2019
70 Puerto Rico 630.00 2019
70 Algeria 630.00 2019
72 Turkey 623.00 2019
73 Serbia 622.00 2019
74 Mali 620.00 2019
75 Lesotho 615.00 2019
76 Zambia 611.00 2019
77 Dem. Rep. Congo 610.00 2019
78 Paraguay 606.00 2019
79 Hungary 605.00 2019
80 South Africa 600.00 2019
81 Switzerland 598.00 2019
81 Oman 598.00 2019
83 Bosnia and Herzegovina 595.00 2019
83 Benin 595.00 2019
83 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 595.00 2019
86 Bolivia 591.00 2019
86 Papua New Guinea 591.00 2019
88 Dominican Republic 590.00 2019
89 Moldova 585.00 2019
90 Guyana 581.00 2019
91 St. Kitts and Nevis 578.00 2019
92 Somalia 575.00 2019
92 Saudi Arabia 575.00 2019
92 San Marino 575.00 2019
95 Qatar 570.00 2019
95 Armenia 570.00 2019
97 Kuwait 566.00 2019
98 Tunisia 565.00 2019
99 Bulgaria 564.00 2019
100 Congo 560.00 2019
101 Jamaica 550.00 2019
102 The Bahamas 545.00 2019
102 Montenegro 545.00 2019
104 Brunei 540.00 2019
105 Ethiopia 530.00 2019
105 Haiti 530.00 2019
107 Albania 525.00 2019
107 Côte d'Ivoire 525.00 2019
109 Ecuador 523.00 2019
110 Malawi 522.00 2019
111 Iraq 520.00 2019
112 Chile 519.00 2019
113 Sierra Leone 515.00 2019
113 Tanzania 515.00 2019
115 Netherlands 514.00 2019
116 Romania 512.00 2019
117 Spain 510.00 2019
117 Morocco 510.00 2019
119 Comoros 506.00 2019
120 Belgium 505.00 2019
120 Malta 505.00 2019
120 Iran 505.00 2019
123 Germany 499.00 2019
124 Solomon Islands 497.00 2019
125 China 496.25 2019
126 Eritrea 490.00 2019
126 Mauritius 490.00 2019
126 Nicaragua 490.00 2019
126 Uganda 490.00 2019
130 Togo 488.00 2019
131 Denmark 485.00 2019
131 Finland 485.00 2019
133 Cambodia 483.00 2019
133 Sweden 483.00 2019
135 Peru 478.00 2019
136 Antigua and Barbuda 476.00 2019
137 Equatorial Guinea 475.00 2019
138 Latvia 469.00 2019
139 Kenya 465.00 2019
140 Namibia 460.00 2019
141 Estonia 455.00 2019
141 Samoa 455.00 2019
143 France 447.00 2019
144 Burkina Faso 446.00 2019
145 United Arab Emirates 445.00 2019
146 United States 444.00 2019
147 United Kingdom 437.00 2019
148 Tajikistan 430.00 2019
148 Vanuatu 430.00 2019
150 Cabo Verde 425.00 2019
150 Malaysia 425.00 2019
152 Thailand 420.00 2019
153 Iceland 417.00 2019
154 Zimbabwe 410.00 2019
154 Kyrgyz Republic 410.00 2019
156 Indonesia 403.20 2019
157 Australia 402.00 2019
158 Vietnam 400.00 2019
158 Norway 400.00 2019
160 Nigeria 399.00 2019
161 Austria 397.00 2019
161 Fiji 397.00 2019
163 Hong Kong SAR, China 385.00 2019
164 Niger 380.00 2019
165 Ukraine 378.00 2019
166 Mongolia 374.00 2019
167 Kazakhstan 370.00 2019
167 Lithuania 370.00 2019
167 Mauritania 370.00 2019
170 Japan 360.00 2019
171 Tonga 350.00 2019
172 Mexico 340.65 2019
173 Russia 337.00 2019
174 Luxembourg 321.00 2019
175 Guinea 311.00 2019
176 Korea 290.00 2019
177 Georgia 285.00 2019
178 Azerbaijan 277.00 2019
179 Belarus 275.00 2019
180 Rwanda 230.00 2019
181 Bhutan 225.00 2019
181 Uzbekistan 225.00 2019
183 New Zealand 216.00 2019
184 Singapore 164.00 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. A judicial system that provides effective commercial dispute resolution is crucial to a healthy economy. Without one, firms risk finding themselves operating in an environment where compliance with contractual obligations is not the norm. 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.