Overview

2004 was a good year for doing business in most transition economies, the World Bank Group concluded in its Doing Business in 2005 survey, the second in its series tracking regulatory reforms aimed at improving the ease of doing business in the world’s economies. However, the survey found that conditions for starting and running a business in poorer countries were consistently more burdensome than in richer countries.

Main findings

• The top 5 economies on the ease of doing business were, in order: New Zealand, United States, Singapore, Hong Kong (China), and Australia. 
• Slovakia was the leading reformer, together with Lithuania breaking into the list of the 20 economies with the best business conditions.
• The major impetus for reform in 2003 was competition in the enlarged European Union.