Christian Wenande
November 1st, 2017

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Denmark ranked third just behind New Zealand and Singapore (photo: Pixabay)

According to the World Bank, Denmark is among the best countries in the world when it comes to business.

On the bank’s freshly-published Ease of Doing Business Index (here in English), Denmark ranked third, just behind New Zealand and Singapore. But despite the commendable result, the Danes shouldn’t rest on their laurels.

“Denmark is in tough competition with other countries when it comes to attracting companies, investment and qualified labour,” said the foreign minister, Anders Samuelsen.

“So we must continually work towards reducing costs and removing bureaucracy so the big companies of the future choose to invest in Denmark instead of our neighbours.”

READ MORE: World Bank: Denmark top for green energy

Indicating success
The index ranks countries 1-190 based on 10 indicators: Starting a Business, Dealing with Construction Permits, Getting Electricity, Registering Property, Getting Credit, Protecting Minority Investors, Paying Taxes, Trading Across Borders, Enforcing Contracts, and Resolving Insolvency.

Denmark ranked first for Trading Across Borders and Dealing with Construction Permits, and it also performed strongly for Resolving Insolvency (7) and Paying Taxes (8). But it scored less impressively for other indicators, including Starting a Business (34), Getting Credit (42), Protecting Minority Investors (33) and Enforcing Contracts (32).

South Korea and Hong Kong followed Denmark to complete the top five, while the US, the UK, Norway, Georgia and Sweden completed the top 10. Somalia finished rock bottom, just behind Eritrea, Venezuela, South Sudan and Yemen.

Other notables included Finland (13), Australia (14), Canada (18), Germany (20), France (31), Japan (34), Russia (35), Mexico (49), Indonesia (72), China (78), South Africa (82), India (100) and Brazil (125).