10 Best Countries for Business in 2014

As a Canadian call centre we’re always interested to see where Canada ranks when it comes to business on the global stage. We’ve explored other country and city rankings in previous posts like best country to live, smartest countries, the happiest countries, the  most peaceful countries, the most sustainable countries, the friendliest countries, the most charitable countries, the most prosperous countries, the best countries for quality of life, the best countries for business, the top countries for life expectancy, the best countries for working women, the best country for child well-being, the best countries from social progress, the best countries for higher education, the most popular countries, the least corrupt countries, the countries with the best reputation, the best countries for ease of doing business, the best countries for starting a business, the best country for business, the best country for customer satisfaction, the most gay positive country, the best countries with the most competitive economies, the best countries for entrepreneurship, the most sustainable countries, the best countries to grow old, the best country brand, the most youthful cities and most recently the best cities to live for opportunity. Today, I’ll be adding the 10 best countries for business in 2014 from the 3rd edition of Bloomberg’s Best Countries for Business.

Image courtesy of cbc.ca

Bloomberg is one of the premier business and financial market news websites. The methodology they used featured six indicators (not equally weighted): economic integration (10% of each countries total score), business startup cost (20%), labor/material and cost (20%), transport cost (20%), less tangible costs (20%) and local consumer base (10%). “Scores for each factor were calculated using a percentage of the maximum for index-based and qualitative criteria and a percentage rank for the quantitative criteria. Of the 214 countries and sovereigns evaluated, 157 had sufficient data to be ranked.” Sources included the CIA World Factbook, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, World Bank, World Health Organization and many others to get a full picture of each country. Based on the data collected, the 10 best countries for business in 2014 are:

1. Hong Kong 2013 rank: 1. Total Score 2014 83.4 – Highest score was 95.3 in business startup cost and lowest score was 62.2 in labor/material cost.
2. Canada 2013 rank: 6 (tied). Total Score 2014: 81.5 – Highest score was 92.3 in economic integration and lowest score: 69.0 in labor/material cost.
3. United States 2013 rank: 2. Total Score 2014: 80.2 – Highest score: 93.5 in economic integration and lowest score: 71.1in local consumer base.
4. Singapore 2013 rank: 8. Total Score 2014: 80.1 – Highest score was 91.5 in transport cost and lowest score: 56.0 in labor/material cost.
5. Australia 2013 rank: 6 (tied). Total Score 2014: 79.9 – Highest score was in 85.4 in economic integration and lowest score: 70.1 in labor/material cost.
6. Germany 2013 rank: 5. Total Score 2014: 79.9 – Highest score was in 92.1 in economic integration and lowest score: 70.4 in business startup cost.
7. United Kingdom 2013 rank: 10. Total Score 2014: 79.4 – Highest score was in 91.3 in economic integration and lowest score: 68.7 in labor/material cost.
8. Netherlands 2013 rank: 4. Total Score 2014: 78.0 – Highest score was in 88.9 in transport cost and lowest score: 63.8 in labor/material cost.
9. Spain 2013 rank: 16. Total Score 2014: 77.0 – Highest score: 94.9 in economic integration and lowest score: 67.9 in labor/material cost.
10. Sweden 2013 rank: 12. Total Score 2014: 76.2 – Highest score was in 82.5 in economic integration and lowest score: 65.0 in labor/material cost.

It is encouraging to see Canada jump from 6th to 2nd place in one year. Bloomberg attributes this jump to the “receptivity of [Canada’s] consumers, measured by the size of its middle class, household consumption and GDP per capita.” Given the state of the economy in the last few years this is encouraging and welcome news for existing Canadian entrepreneurs and businesses as well as those looking to come to Canada.

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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including inbound telephone fundraising, outbound telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery fundraising services, donation processing and receipting and direct mail fundraising services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all our business decisions  and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.