Corporate Environment Ranking
The World Bank ranked 5th in the "Doing Business 2017" report released on October 26th, with a score of 84.07 among 190 countries surveyed. This is one notch down from 2015 (fourth place).
Korea's annual ranking has risen steadily each year since placing 23rd in 2008. The ranking peaked at fourth place in 2015, but this time fell for the first time in eight years. This year's ranking of Korea was the highest among 20 major countries (G20).
Among the OECD member nations, Korea ranked third after New Zealand and Denmark. Singapore which had ranked second on the list last year, ranked first overall. New Zealand fell to second place and Denmark remained at third place as it did last year. Hong Kong, which had placed fifth last year, ranks fourth. Japan remained at 34th place as it did last year and China rose from 84th to 78th place.
The Doing Business Project of the World Bank compares and evaluates 10 areas from foundation to liquidation according to the life cycles of companies through surveys and statutory analysis. The project checks how business-friendly related systems are in processes to found and liquidate companies.
Korea rose in four of the ten areas and fell in four of them. The areas where Korea’s rankings rose are legal dispute settlement (2nd → 1st), entrepreneurship (23rd → 11th), tax payment (29th → 23rd), property rights registration (40th → 39th). Korea slid in the production of small investors (8th to 13th), building licenses (28th to 31st), customs administration (31st to 32nd), and financing (42nd to 44th).