10 Best Countries for Business 2013 by Bloomberg

I find it interesting to see where Toronto or Canada ranks on global listings and for the most part I feel a little proud of our position. I’ve featured these types of listings in posts like the smartest countries, the happiest countries, the best countries to live, the  most peaceful countries, the most sustainable countries, the friendliest countries, the most charitable countries, the most prosperous countries, the most livable city, the most competitive city, the best city to live, the greenest city, the best city for opportunity, the best city for quality of living and most recently the best countries for quality of life. Today, I’ll be adding the Best Countries for Business 2013 ranking released by Bloomberg, a “global business and financial information and news leader” that “gives influential decision makers a critical edge by connecting them to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas.”

In order to compile this list, Bloomberg’s methodology included ranking 161 countries on a scale from 0 to 100% based on six broad criteria: 1) Degree of economic integration (weighting of 10%); 2) Cost of setting up a business (20%); 3) Cost of labor and material (20%); 4) Cost of moving goods (20%); 5) Less tangible costs (20%); and 6) Readiness of the local consumer base (10%). Data used was as of January 2013 and sources included: Bloomberg, CIA World Factbook, Conference Board, Heritage Foundation, International Monetary Fund, International Labor Organization, Transparency International, United Nations, World Bank, World Health Organization and World Trade Organization.

Based on this research, the top ten best countries for business, according to Bloomberg are:

• 10) United Kingdom – 2012 score: 73.4% . Highest score: 82.7% Economic integration. Lowest score: 66.7% Readiness of local consumer base. Previous ranking 4.
• 9) Denmark – 2012 score: 73.8%. Highest score: 84.4% Cost of setting up a business. Lowest score: 60.1% Cost of Labor/Material Cost. Previous ranking 17.
• 8) Singapore – 2012 score: 74.0%. Highest score: 90.4% Cost of business set-up. Lowest score: 52.2% 8 Cost of labor/material. Previous ranking 9.
• 6) Canada – 2012 score: 74.4%. Highest score: 86.2% Cost of moving goods. Lowest score: 65.1% Economic integration. Previous ranking 12.
• 6) Australia – 2012 score: 74.4%. Highest score: 81.4% Cost of moving goods. Lowest score: 69.2% Readiness of local consumer base. Previous ranking 5.
• 5) Germany – 2012 score: 74.6%. Highest score: 87.4% Cost of moving goods. Lowest score: 61.8% Cost of business set-up. Previous ranking 6.
• 4) Netherlands – 2012 score: 75.3%. Highest score: 87.7% Cost of moving goods. Lowest score: 69.0% 8 Cost of labour/material. Previous ranking 2.
• 3) Japan – 2012 score: 75.6%. Highest score: 82.3% Economic integration. Lowest score: 66.6% Less tangible costs. Previous ranking 7.
• 2) United States – 2012 score: 77.0%. Highest score: 85.2% Cost of moving goods. Lowest score: 65.4% Local consumer base. Previous ranking 3.
• 1) Hong Kong – 2012 score: 79.6%. Highest score: 96.7% Cost of business set-up. Lowest score: 61.8% Cost of labor/material. Previous ranking 1.

You can see that there has been a considerable amount of movement in the top 10 between last year and this year’s edition of this list which serves to illustrate how the world is ever-changing. This list is definitely something for new and existing businesses to consider in these volatile and often uncertain economic times especially if they are looking to move, expand or start a new venture. The fact that Bloomberg published this lends further credibility given its reputation and presence in the business world. ____________________________________________________________________________________

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