⚠️ Unconfirmedeconomic2020
Average number of days needed to start a business (modelled)
Average time required to start a business (days), based on World Bank Entrepreneurship Database methodology (modelled estimates), by country (2020).
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Key Insights
Global Average
17.6days
Median: 12.0days
Countries Covered
183
with available data
Highest
Venezuela
230.0days
Lowest
New Zealand
1.0days
Top 5 Countries
1Venezuela230.0days
2Lao People's Democratic Republic174.0days
3Cambodia99.0days
4Haiti97.0days
5Eritrea84.0days
By Region
Other20.8days(103 countries)
South America18.6days(7 countries)
Africa16.6days(9 countries)
Asia15.8days(26 countries)
Europe11.0days(32 countries)
Key Findings
- •Time-to-start-a-business varies dramatically worldwide—from about 1–2 days in the fastest economies to many weeks or longer in the slowest.
- •High-performing economies typically combine online registration, one-stop shops, and simplified tax/social security enrollment.
- •Long registration times often coincide with multi-agency approvals, paper-based steps, and limited interoperability between registries.
Country Rankings
Top 10 Countries
Bottom 10 Countries
Data Analysis
Value Distribution
How countries are distributed across the value range
Low (1.0days)High (90.0days)
Regional Comparison
Average values by world region (Global avg: 17.6days)
Other (103)
South America (7)
Africa (9)
Asia (26)
Europe (32)
North America (4)
Oceania (2)
About This Statistic
This statistic measures the average number of calendar days needed to start a formally registered limited liability company, using a World Bank–style “standardized business” assumption (e.g., a domestically owned firm operating in the largest business city). It captures the practical time burden of business entry—one of the most tangible frictions entrepreneurs face.
The World Bank’s Entrepreneurship Database provides internationally comparable, modelled estimates of time-to-start-a-business. While it does not capture all informal practices or subnational variation, it is widely used to benchmark administrative efficiency and the ease of formal market entry across countries.
Full Data
| Rank ↑ | Country ↕ | Value ↕ |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Venezuela | 230.0days |
| 2 | Lao People's Democratic Republic | 174.0days |
| 3 | Cambodia | 99.0days |
| 4 | Haiti | 97.0days |
| 5 | Eritrea | 84.0days |
| 6 | Islamic Republic of Iran | 72.0days |
| 7 | Ecuador | 49.0days |
| 8 | Vanuatu | 41.0days |
| 9 | South Africa | 40.0days |
| 10 | Yemen | 40.0days |
| 11 | Bolivia | 39.0days |
| 12 | Malawi | 37.0days |
| 13 | Poland | 37.0days |
| 14 | Libya | 35.0days |
| 15 | Paraguay | 35.0days |
| 16 | Bahamas | 35.0days |
| 17 | Sudan | 34.0days |
| 18 | Philippines | 33.0days |
| 19 | Eswatini | 31.0days |
| 20 | United Republic of Tanzania | 29.0days |
| 21 | Mayotte | 28.0days |
| 22 | Equatorial Guinea | 28.0days |
| 23 | Peru | 26.0days |
| 24 | Slovakia | 26.0days |
| 25 | Turkmenistan | 26.0days |
| 26 | North Korea | 25.0days |
| 27 | Czech Republic | 24.0days |
| 28 | Uganda | 24.0days |
| 29 | Costa Rica | 23.0days |
| 30 | Kenya | 23.0days |
| 31 | Afghanistan | 23.0days |
| 32 | Republic of the Congo | 22.0days |
| 33 | Gabon | 22.0days |
| 34 | Mauritania | 21.0days |
| 35 | Croatia | 20.0days |
| 36 | Guyana | 20.0days |
| 37 | Cote d'Ivoire | 20.0days |
| 38 | Romania | 20.0days |
| 39 | Tajikistan | 20.0days |
| 40 | Togo | 20.0days |
| 41 | Barbados | 20.0days |
| 42 | Algeria | 19.0days |
| 43 | Cape Verde | 18.0days |
| 44 | India | 18.0days |
| 45 | Iraq | 18.0days |
| 46 | New Caledonia | 18.0days |
| 47 | Saudi Arabia | 18.0days |
| 48 | Argentina | 18.0days |
| 49 | Bulgaria | 17.0days |
| 50 | Guatemala | 17.0days |
| 51 | Burundi | 16.0days |
| 52 | Sri Lanka | 16.0days |
| 53 | Dominican Republic | 16.0days |
| 54 | El Salvador | 16.0days |
| 55 | Ethiopia | 16.0days |
| 56 | Djibouti | 16.0days |
| 57 | Country 429 | 16.0days |
| 58 | Oman | 16.0days |
| 59 | Nepal | 16.0days |
| 60 | Pakistan | 16.0days |
| 61 | Papua New Guinea | 16.0days |
| 62 | Vietnam | 16.0days |
| 63 | Zimbabwe | 16.0days |
| 64 | Albania | 16.0days |
| 65 | Brazil | 16.0days |
| 66 | Guinea | 15.0days |
| 67 | Lebanon | 15.0days |
| 68 | Lithuania | 15.0days |
| 69 | Luxembourg | 15.0days |
| 70 | Mozambique | 15.0days |
| 71 | South Sudan | 15.0days |
| 72 | Syrian Arab Republic | 15.0days |
| 73 | Samoa | 15.0days |
| 74 | Suriname | 14.0days |
| 75 | Bangladesh | 14.0days |
| 76 | Myanmar | 13.0days |
| 77 | Cameroon | 13.0days |
| 78 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 13.0days |
| 79 | Finland | 13.0days |
| 80 | Honduras | 13.0days |
| 81 | Indonesia | 13.0days |
| 82 | Mongolia | 13.0days |
| 83 | Nicaragua | 13.0days |
| 84 | Niger | 13.0days |
| 85 | Seychelles | 13.0days |
| 86 | Somalia | 13.0days |
| 87 | Spain | 13.0days |
| 88 | Burkina Faso | 13.0days |
| 89 | Austria | 13.0days |
| 90 | Bahrain | 13.0days |
| 91 | Bermuda | 13.0days |
| 92 | Chad | 12.0days |
| 93 | Comoros | 12.0days |
| 94 | State of Palestine | 12.0days |
| 95 | Ghana | 12.0days |
| 96 | Greece | 12.0days |
| 97 | Jordan | 12.0days |
| 98 | Latvia | 12.0days |
| 99 | Malaysia | 12.0days |
| 100 | Maldives | 12.0days |
| 101 | Moldova, Republic of | 12.0days |
| 102 | Montenegro | 12.0days |
| 103 | Egypt | 12.0days |
| 104 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 12.0days |
| 105 | Botswana | 12.0days |
| 106 | Virgin Islands, British | 12.0days |
| 107 | Colombia | 11.0days |
| 108 | Ireland | 11.0days |
| 109 | Israel | 11.0days |
| 110 | Namibia | 11.0days |
| 111 | Tunisia | 11.0days |
| 112 | Angola | 11.0days |
| 113 | Solomon Islands | 11.0days |
| 114 | Brunei Darussalam | 11.0days |
| 115 | Taiwan, Province of China | 10.0days |
| 116 | Fiji | 10.0days |
| 117 | Kyrgyzstan | 10.0days |
| 118 | Liberia | 10.0days |
| 119 | Timor-Leste | 10.0days |
| 120 | Russian Federation | 10.0days |
| 121 | Sierra Leone | 10.0days |
| 122 | Switzerland | 10.0days |
| 123 | Trinidad and Tobago | 10.0days |
| 124 | Belarus | 9.0days |
| 125 | People's Republic of China | 9.0days |
| 126 | Jamaica | 9.0days |
| 127 | Morocco | 9.0days |
| 128 | Zambia | 9.0days |
| 129 | Armenia | 9.0days |
| 130 | Central African Republic | 8.0days |
| 131 | Cuba | 8.0days |
| 132 | Falkland Islands (Malvinas) | 8.0days |
| 133 | Republic of The Gambia | 8.0days |
| 134 | Germany | 8.0days |
| 135 | Japan | 8.0days |
| 136 | Kuwait | 8.0days |
| 137 | Madagascar | 8.0days |
| 138 | Mexico | 8.0days |
| 139 | Guinea-Bissau | 8.0days |
| 140 | Qatar | 8.0days |
| 141 | Senegal | 8.0days |
| 142 | Slovenia | 8.0days |
| 143 | France | 7.5days |
| 144 | Benin | 7.0days |
| 145 | Faroe Islands | 7.0days |
| 146 | Hungary | 7.0days |
| 147 | Nigeria | 7.0days |
| 148 | Sweden | 7.0days |
| 149 | Türkiye | 7.0days |
| 150 | The Republic of North Macedonia | 7.0days |
| 151 | Cyprus | 6.0days |
| 152 | Dominica | 6.0days |
| 153 | Italy | 6.0days |
| 154 | Panama | 6.0days |
| 155 | Portugal | 6.0days |
| 156 | Thailand | 6.0days |
| 157 | Ukraine | 6.0days |
| 158 | United States of America | 6.0days |
| 159 | Uruguay | 6.0days |
| 160 | Belize | 6.0days |
| 161 | Kazakhstan | 5.0days |
| 162 | Serbia | 5.0days |
| 163 | Chile | 4.5days |
| 164 | Malta | 4.5days |
| 165 | United Kingdom | 4.5days |
| 166 | Cayman Islands | 4.0days |
| 167 | Iceland | 4.0days |
| 168 | South Korea | 4.0days |
| 169 | Mauritius | 4.0days |
| 170 | Netherlands | 4.0days |
| 171 | Norway | 4.0days |
| 172 | Rwanda | 4.0days |
| 173 | United Arab Emirates | 4.0days |
| 174 | Belgium | 4.0days |
| 175 | Bhutan | 4.0days |
| 176 | Denmark | 3.5days |
| 177 | Estonia | 3.5days |
| 178 | Uzbekistan | 3.0days |
| 179 | Georgia | 2.0days |
| 180 | Australia | 2.0days |
| 181 | Canada | 1.5days |
| 182 | Singapore | 1.5days |
| 183 | New Zealand | 1.0days |
Showing 183 of 183 countries
Topics
Data Source
This data comes from World Bank — Entrepreneurship Database (2020).
View Original Source