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World Bank Group · Business Ready: Regulatory Framework
Business Ready: regulatory framework by country
How good are a country's business rules on paper?
Hungary placed first of the 50 countries compared in 2024, at 78.34, and Timor-Leste last, at 46.21. In the middle country the figure was 66.80.
Business Ready: regulatory framework · 2024
Context statistic
Highest of 50Hungary
78.34012024 · position · derived
Who leads
The three countries at the highest end of 50 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
1Photo: grin derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
2Photo: Tsy1980 · CC BY-SA 4.0, greyscale
3Photo: Philipp Weigell derivative work: Inkey · CC BY 3.0, greyscale
Lowest in 2024
- 50
Timor-Leste46.21 - 49
Palestine47.47 - 48
Iraq49.28
Positions out of 50. Where a country sits says how it compares with the others measured, and nothing about why.
02Every measured country
Business Ready: regulatory framework on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a higher value — the better end.
- 46.21–57.28
- 58.77–63.93
- 64.57–68.85
- 69.03–72.89
- 73.53–78.34
- No reading in 2024
- Europe
75.65
the middle country, of 11 measured · 49 members
Hungary78.34
Bosnia and Herzegovina67.44Highest and lowest reading in Europe.
- Americas
69.61
the middle country, of 7 measured · 48 members
Colombia76.60
Barbados58.77Highest and lowest reading in Americas.
- Africa
64.57
the middle country, of 15 measured · 55 members
Rwanda70.43
Gambia53.34Highest and lowest reading in Africa.
- Asia
63.38
the middle country, of 14 measured · 52 members
Georgia77.74Timor-Leste46.21Highest and lowest reading in Asia.
- Oceania
3 of 21 measured — too few for a middle: New Zealand, Samoa, Vanuatu.
New Zealand67.51
Vanuatu50.48Highest and lowest reading in Oceania.
- Every region
19 sub-regions, highest middle country first
- Southern Europe
73.03
the middle country, of 6 measured · 17 members
Portugal78.16Bosnia and Herzegovina67.44Highest and lowest reading in Southern Europe.
- Western Africa
66.83
the middle country, of 5 measured · 16 members
Togo69.03Gambia53.34Highest and lowest reading in Western Africa.
- South-eastern Asia
65.35
the middle country, of 6 measured · 11 members
Singapore72.46Timor-Leste46.21Highest and lowest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Eastern Africa
64.57
the middle country, of 5 measured · 19 members
Rwanda70.43
Madagascar57.28Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Australia and New Zealand
1 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: New Zealand.
New Zealand67.51Highest and lowest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Caribbean
1 of 24 measured — too few for a middle: Barbados.
Barbados58.77Highest and lowest reading in Caribbean.
- Central America
3 of 8 measured — too few for a middle: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico.
Mexico74.99
El Salvador60.41Highest and lowest reading in Central America.
- Central Asia
1 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Kyrgyzstan.
Kyrgyzstan65.33Highest and lowest reading in Central Asia.
- Eastern Asia
1 of 8 measured — too few for a middle: Hong Kong.
Hong Kong72.47Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Eastern Europe
4 of 10 measured — too few for a middle: Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia.
Hungary78.34
Romania76.24Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Melanesia
1 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Vanuatu.
Vanuatu50.48Highest and lowest reading in Melanesia.
- Middle Africa
2 of 9 measured — too few for a middle: Central African Republic, Chad.
Chad61.15
Central African Republic60.99Highest and lowest reading in Middle Africa.
- Northern Africa
1 of 6 measured — too few for a middle: Morocco.
Morocco68.85Highest and lowest reading in Northern Africa.
- Northern Europe
1 of 13 measured — too few for a middle: Estonia.
Estonia72.89Highest and lowest reading in Northern Europe.
- Polynesia
1 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Samoa.
Samoa57.11Highest and lowest reading in Polynesia.
- South America
3 of 12 measured — too few for a middle: Colombia, Paraguay, Peru.
Colombia76.60
Paraguay60.89Highest and lowest reading in South America.
- Southern Africa
2 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Botswana, Lesotho.
Botswana65.96
Lesotho54.87Highest and lowest reading in Southern Africa.
- Southern Asia
3 of 9 measured — too few for a middle: Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan.
Nepal59.30
Bangladesh56.94Highest and lowest reading in Southern Asia.
- Western Asia
3 of 19 measured — too few for a middle: Georgia, Iraq, Palestine.
Georgia77.74Palestine47.47Highest and lowest reading in Western Asia.
03The whole field at once
The spread
50 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 66.80; a quarter are above 72.47, and a quarter below 59.12. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 50 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first. “=” marks a position shared with another country. World Bank Group ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. Coverage is a rollout, not a ranking of the world: the 2024 edition scores 50 economies against the roughly 180 most indicators here cover, so read it as a partial picture.
Showing 25 of 50 countries
Values for 2024.
05In this edition
Business Ready: regulatory framework in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading
78.34
Regulatory framework score (0–100)
Lowest reading
46.21
Regulatory framework score (0–100)
06The measure
About Business Ready: regulatory framework
Business Ready: Regulatory Framework scores how good a country’s business rules are on paper — whether the regulations a firm meets when starting up, hiring, trading and paying tax are clear, proportionate and actually written down. It is one of three pillars in the World Bank’s replacement for Doing Business.
What the number is: Regulatory framework score (0–100).
07Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
Context, with no vote
This statistic is published in full under Governance & Institutions and Economy & Innovation, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.
Governance & InstitutionsEconomy & InnovationWhich statistics vote, and why
Moves with
Where Business Ready: regulatory framework is higher, these tend to be higher too.
No statistic lines up this closely.
Moves against
Where Business Ready: regulatory framework is higher, these tend to be lower.
No statistic lines up this closely.
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 0 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
08Keep reading
Explore further
The data, edition by edition
More from World Bank Group
09Questions
Business Ready: regulatory framework: questions and answers
Which country has the highest Business Ready: regulatory framework?
Hungary, at 78.34, among the 50 countries compared in 2024.
Which country has the lowest Business Ready: regulatory framework?
Timor-Leste, at 46.21, among the 50 countries compared in 2024.
How many countries does the Business Ready: Regulatory Framework cover?
50 in 2024.
What is the world average Business Ready: regulatory framework?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 50 compared in 2024, the figure was 66.80.
Is this World Bank Group’s own ranking?
No. World Bank Group publishes the values but ranks nobody; the position on this page is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values, and equal values share a position.
How often is the Business Ready: Regulatory Framework published?
This site holds one edition, describing 2024.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From World Bank Group, under CC BY 4.0. From the World Bank’s B-READY 2024 dataset. B-READY publishes no overall country score, deliberately — a break from the Doing Business ranking it replaced, which the Bank withdrew after its data was found to have been manipulated — so its three pillars are three indicators here rather than one composite. Every edition is available on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, unrounded.
10Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Business Ready: Regulatory Framework — World Bank Group
From the World Bank’s B-READY 2024 dataset. B-READY publishes no overall country score, deliberately — a break from the Doing Business ranking it replaced, which the Bank withdrew after its data was found to have been manipulated — so its three pillars are three indicators here rather than one composite.
Newest edition
Report year 2024Data year 2024
Cite the source as: World Bank. Business Ready (B-READY). Washington, DC: World Bank Group.
Licence: CC BY 4.0, checked 2026-09-05.
How this page reads the numbers
- World Bank Group ranks nobody on this measure. The position is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values; equal values share a position.
- Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The full note on this data
1 edition (2024), covering 50 economies. How good a country’s rules are on paper — whether the regulations a business meets when starting up, hiring, trading and paying tax are clear, proportionate and actually written down. ⚠ B-READY PUBLISHES NO OVERALL COUNTRY SCORE, deliberately — a break from the Doing Business ranking it replaced, which the Bank withdrew after its data was found to have been manipulated. Its three cross-cutting pillars are therefore three indicators here rather than one composite; averaging them would be our number wearing the Bank’s name. ⚠ COVERAGE IS A ROLLOUT, NOT A RANKING OF THE WORLD: the 2024 edition scores 50 economies, far short of the ~180 most indicators here cover, and later editions are expected to widen. Read it as a partial picture. ⚠ No rank is published, so none is stored; the POSITION shown on the statistics page is derived here by ordering the score, and labelled as ours.
Photographs
The countries at the top of this statistic, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Hungary — grin derivative work: Jjtkk, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Portugal — Tsy1980, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Georgia — Philipp Weigell derivative work: Inkey, CC BY 3.0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Business Ready: regulatory framework by country: Business Ready: Regulatory Framework, data from World Bank Group. https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/bready-regulatory-framework