Doing Business 2015: Going Beyond Efficiency, a World Bank Group flagship publication listed Israel in 40th place as a business-friendly location, two places below Israel's position in the 2013 report.
The WB report examines regulations, laws, customs, and other issues that either encourage or discourage entrepreneurs from doing business. Ease of doing business ranks economies from 1 to 189, with first place being the best.
A high ranking (a low numerical rank) means that the regulatory environment is conducive to business operation. The index averages the country's percentile rankings on 10 topics covered in the World Bank's Doing Business.
The ranking on each topic is the simple average of the percentile rankings on its component indicators. The World Bank interprets Israel's position in 40th place out of a total of 189 countries to mean that doing business in Israel is “moderately difficult,” with numerous extraneous bureaucratic roadblocks preventing deals from being made and businesses expanding. Singapore tops the list of business-friendly economies globally, while five of the top 10 most improved countries are in sub-Saharan Africa.
The 12th annual report finds that the 10 economies with the most business-friendly regulatory environments. Singapore with 88.27 points occupies the top position in the ease of doing business followed by New Zealand, Hong Kong, Denmark and South Korea respectively.
Among other major countries, the US has been ranked seventh, Britain (eight), China (90).
