U.S. behind Rwanda
A country’s long-term financial health is often indicated by the ease of starting a new business. This would seem obvious as new businesses need employees and the majority of employment growth comes from small business. For this reason it is distressing to hear that over the last few years creating a new business in the United States has become more difficult, no wonder our unemployment rate isn’t improving.
As a matter of fact according to the World Bank’s “Doing Business 2012” report, the U.S. has fallen to 13th place world-wide when it comes to starting a new business. What is extremely distressing is that we are now behind such notable countries as Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Armenia, Georgia, Belarus and Macedonia.
Starting a Business- Harder Now
According to another Investor’s Business Daily study, 80% of new jobs are created by small businesses. Unfortuantely, small businesses and new business start-ups are being choked by government regulations in a time when we need all the new jobs we can get. Interestingly, this is a rapid descent since as recently as 2007 when the U.S. ranked 3rd, we ranked 4th in 2008, 6th in 2009 zooming to 11th in 2011 and finally tied with Ireland at 13th in 2012. At this rate in four more years
the U.S. could rank 21st or 22nd behind the U.K., Madagascar, and Egypt which currently rank 19th, 20th and 21st respectively. At the top of the list are New Zealand, Australia, Canada and Singapore.
| Ease of Starting a business | |
| New Zealand | 1 |
| Australia | 2 |
| Canada | 3 |
| Singapore | 4 |
| Hong Kong SAR, China | 5 |
| Macedonia, FYR | 6 |
| Georgia | 7 |
| Rwanda | 8 |
| Belarus | 9 |
| Saudi Arabia | 10 |
| Armenia | 10 |
| Puerto Rico (U.S.) | 12 |
| United States | 13 |
| Ireland | 13 |
| Mauritius | 15 |
| Taiwan, China | 16 |
| Kyrgyz Republic | 17 |
| Azerbaijan | 18 |
| United Kingdom | 19 |
| Madagascar | 20 |
| Egypt, Arab Rep. | 21 |
| Samoa | 22 |
| Jamaica | 23 |
| Korea, Rep. | 24 |
| France | 25 |
| Portugal | 26 |
| Chile | 27 |
| Slovenia | 28 |
| Panama | 29 |
| Afghanistan | 30 |
| Denmark | 31 |
| Uruguay | 32 |
| Cyprus | 33 |
| Tonga | 33 |
| Liberia | 35 |
| Belgium | 36 |
| Iceland | 37 |
| Sri Lanka | 38 |
| Finland | 39 |
| Hungary | 39 |
| Norway | 41 |
| United Arab Emirates | 42 |
| Israel | 43 |
| Estonia | 44 |
| South Africa | 44 |
| Sweden | 46 |
| Montenegro | 47 |
| Dominica | 48 |
| Bulgaria | 49 |
At the bottom of the list are:
| Central African Republic | 160 |
| Swaziland | 161 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 162 |
| Niger | 163 |
| Ecuador | 164 |
| Guatemala | 165 |
| India | 166 |
| Angola | 167 |
| Kosovo | 168 |
| Bolivia | 169 |
| Côte d’Ivoire | 170 |
| Cambodia | 171 |
| Comoros | 172 |
| Suriname | 173 |
| Togo | 174 |
| Congo, Rep. | 175 |
| Iraq | 176 |
| West Bank and Gaza | 177 |
| Equatorial Guinea | 178 |
| Djibouti | 179 |
| Haiti | 180 |
| Guinea | 181 |
| Eritrea | 182 |
| Chad | 183 |
See Also:
- Laying the Groundwork for Success When Starting Your Own Business
- 5 Ways to Get Money for Your Business Start Up
- The Basics of Starting a Small Home-Based Business
- Employment vs. Unemployment
- The Difference a Degree Makes in Unemployment Levels
- Is the Government Fudging Unemployment Numbers?
- What is U-6 Unemployment?
- Can Small Businesses Benefit From Outsourcing?
Source: http://www.doingbusiness.org/rankings
Photo credit: Business Planning with Plan-Too by plantoo47 on flickr
