Best European Countries for Business
The Best European Countries for Business (BECB) is a yearly publication by EuCham - European Chamber, an independent non-governmental organization that represents business interests in Europe. This index provides business environment rankings of 46 European countries, based on the World Bank and Transparency International’s indexes: Ease of Doing Business Index and Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), respectively.
The 46 countries that it covers include Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, and United Kingdom.
Methodology[edit]
The BECB score is based on the average of the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) score and Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) score. Both scores are given 50 percent weight each, in order to place equal importance on the effectiveness of regulations to achieve financial gains and on the degree of transparency of each country’s public sector. The index reflects a country’s business environment on a scale from 0 to 100, with 0 potentially being the lowest score and 100 representing the ideal, most favorable place for business.
History[edit]
BECB was first published in 2016. Prior to this publication, it was a ranking of 44 European countries entitled “Most favourable countries to start a new business in Europe” in August 2014. The sources for this preceding research were data from the World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC), in order to measure the procedures, required time, and costs of starting or legally operating a business in a particular country.
In December of the same year, the research witnessed several changes. It was renamed to the “Best Countries to do business in Europe” and considered 45 countries in its ranking. The World Bank’s Doing Business was retained as the research’s source. However, the IFC data was replaced with Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, in order to recognize the ethical environment’s role in affecting business operations and risks.
From 2016 onwards, the research has been known as the Best European Countries for Business (BECB), analyzing 46 countries and based on the EoDB and CPI.
Ranking[edit]
The most recent rankings come from the “Best European Countries for Business 2020” report.
Nordic countries have consistently retained the top places over the years. Compared to the previous report, Armenia’s position went up six places and North Macedonia’s went down five ranks. Spain, Montenegro, and Azerbaijan’s rankings have gone up the most in the latest report, while France and Albania experienced the most significant negative variation.
The 2020 research further illustrates Armenia and Kazakhstan portraying the highest level of improvement, while Russia only slightly shows improvement. However, Russia stays in the same position near the bottom, as well as Ukraine in its position at the very bottom.
| Economy | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Denmark
|
1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
 Sweden
|
2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
 Norway
|
3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
 Finland
|
4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
 Switzerland
|
5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
 United Kingdom
|
6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
 Germany
|
7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 |
 Netherlands
|
8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 |
 Iceland
|
9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
 Austria
|
10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
 Estonia
|
11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
 Ireland
|
12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
 Belgium
|
13 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 |
 Luxembourg
|
14 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 |
 France
|
15 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
 Lithuania
|
16 | 18 | 17 | 18 | 17 |
 Spain
|
17 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 20 |
 Georgia
|
18 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 24 |
 Portugal
|
19 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 16 |
 Slovenia
|
20 | 22 | 21 | 21 | 19 |
 Latvia
|
21 | 19 | 20 | 19 | 21 |
 Poland
|
22 | 20 | 19 | 16 | 18 |
 Czech Republic
|
23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 |
 Cyprus
|
24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 22 |
 Italy
|
25 | 26 | 26 | 30 | 31 |
 Slovakia
|
26 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 |
 Croatia
|
27 | 29 | 29 | 27 | 26 |
 Malta
|
28 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 29 |
 Belarus
|
29 | 27 | 31 | 35 | 38 |
 Montenegro
|
30 | 33 | 30 | 32 | 32 |
 Hungary
|
31 | 32 | 32 | 28 | 27 |
 Romania
|
32 | 30 | 27 | 26 | 29 |
 Armenia
|
33 | 39 | 39 | 39 | 36 |
 Greece
|
35 | 34 | 38 | 37 | 35 |
 North Macedonia
|
36 | 31 | 30 | 31 | 28 |
 Bulgaria
|
37 | 35 | 35 | 33 | 33 |
 Serbia
|
38 | 37 | 36 | 34 | 37 |
 Kazakhstan
|
39 | 40 | 41 | 41 | 41 |
 Kosovo
|
40 | 38 | 37 | 40 | 43 |
 Azerbaijan
|
41 | 44 | 45 | 45 | 44 |
 Moldova
|
42 | 41 | 43 | 42 | 39 |
 Russia
|
43 | 43 | 42 | 44 | 42 |
 Albania
|
44 | 42 | 40 | 38 | 45 |
 Bosnia & Herzegovina
|
45 | 45 | 44 | 42 | 40 |
 Ukraine
|
46 | 46 | 46 | 46 | 46 |
Research and influence[edit]
Over the years, the BECB rankings make the news of several media outlets across Europe – such as La Libre, Forbes, and Euronews.[1][2][3] Prominent figures, governments, chambers of commerce, and researchers have also referred to or used this research in their press conferences, news articles, journal articles and books.[4][5][6][7][8]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ "Voici les meilleurs pays européens pour les entreprises en 2020". La Libre. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
- ↑ "Best European Countries for Business – Georgia 18th in the ranking". Forbes Georgia. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
- ↑ "EuCham report ranking Albania among the last three countries in Europe for doing business draws criticism from the opposition". Euronews Albania. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
- ↑ "100 facts about New Armenia - 4". The Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
- ↑ "Switzerland Scores Highly as a Location for Companies". Switzerland Global Enterprise. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
- ↑ "Norway is the 4th Best Country to Do Business". American Chamber of Commerce Norway. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
- ↑ "Business Environment for Hospitality Entrepreneurship" (PDF). Advances in Business-Related Scientific Research Journal. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
- ↑ On the Move: Lessons for the Future from Nordic Leaders. People’s Press. February 2019. ISBN 9788770362603. Retrieved 2021-01-20. Search this book on
External links[edit]
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