This report holds new information to inspire policy makers and researchers. One finding is that Poland improved the most in the Doing Business measures in 2011/12, while Singapore maintains its top spot in the overall ranking. Another finding is that European economies in fiscal distress are making efforts to improve the business climate, and this is beginning to be reflected in the indicators tracked by Doing Business, with Greece being among the 10 economies that improved the most in the Doing Business measures in the past year. Part of the solution to high debt is the recovery of economic growth, and there is broad recognition that creating a friendlier environment for entrepreneurs is central to this goal. But perhaps the most exciting finding is that of a steady march from 2003 to 2012 toward better business regulation across the wide range of economies included. With a handful of exceptions, every economy covered by Doing Business has narrowed the gap in business regulatory practice with the top global performance in the areas measured by the indicators.

Doing Business 2013 uses a simple method to calculate which economies improved the most in the ease of doing business. It selects the economies that in 2011/12 implemented regulatory reforms making it easier to do business in 3 or more of the 10 topics included in this year’s ease of doing business ranking. Twenty-three economies meet this criterion: Benin, Burundi, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Greece, Guinea, Kazakhstan, Korea, Lao PDR, Liberia, Mongolia, the Netherlands, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan.

Source: Doing Business Report 2013