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This article was first published 11 years ago

World's best countries for business

Last updated on: November 29, 2012 12:42 IST

Image: A cruise ship is berths at Princes Wharf in Auckland.
Photographs: Nigel Marple/Reuters.

United States continues to trail among the best countries to do business, says the Forbes' annual study of the Best Countries for Business.

Take a look at the 25 best countries for doing business...

New Zealand (Rank 1)
GDP: $162 billion
GDP per capita: $39,300

New Zealand has a transparent and stable business environment that promotes entrepreneurship, says Forbes.

Investors have become richer, with the country's benchmark stock index, the NZX 50, rising by 24% over the past 12 months.

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World's best countries for business

Image: Denmark's iconic Little Mermaid statue is seen after it was unveiled at the Danish pavilion.
Photographs: Aly Song/Reuters.

Denmark (Rank 2)

GDP: $333 billion
GDP per capita: $59,684

Denmark scores well on account of its technology, trade freedom and property rights.

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Tags: , GDP , Rank , Denmark

World's best countries for business

Image: A cruise ship parks in front of two of Hong Kong's most luxurious high-rise residential buildings.
Photographs: Reuters.

Hong Kong (Rank 3)

GDP: $244 billion
GDP per capita: $34,457

Hong Kong ranks third, thanks to its technology, trade freedom and property rights.

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Tags: Hong Kong , GDP , Rank

World's best countries for business

Image: Tourists stand at a promenade across the water from the Marina Bay Sands integrated resort in Singapore.
Photographs: Vivek Prakash/Reuters.

Singapore (Rank 4)

GDP: $240 billion
GDP per capita: $46,241

One of the fastest growing economies, Singapore grew by 4.9% last year.

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Tags: Singapore , GDP , Rank

World's best countries for business

Image: The downtown core of Vancouver, British Columbia is seen in the background.
Photographs: Andy Clark/Reuters.

Canada (Rank 5)

GDP: $1.7 trillion
GDP per capita: $50,345

Losing its score on innovation and technology, Canada's position fell to No. 5 this year.

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Tags: Canada , GDP

World's best countries for business

Image: Dublin.
Photographs: Reuters.

Ireland (Rank 6)

GDP: $217 billion
GDP per capita: $48,423

Ireland's economy focuses on services and high-tech industries.

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Tags: Ireland , GDP

World's best countries for business

Image: A general view of Spyker Cars Saab factory in Trollhattan.
Photographs: Bjorn Larsson Rosvall/Scanpix/Reuters.

Sweden (Rank 7)

One of the world's most competitive nations, Sweden has an export-oriented mixed economy.

GDP: $538 billion
GDP per capita: $56,927

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Tags: , GDP , Sweden

World's best countries for business

Image: The sunset is reflected off the buildings of The Barcode Project in Oslo.
Photographs: Cornelius Poppe/NTB Scanpix/Reuters.

Norway (Rank 8)

GDP: $486 billion
GDP per capita: $98,102

Norway has a developed mixed economy with heavy state-ownership in strategic areas of the economy.

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Tags: Norway , GDP

World's best countries for business

Image: Customers eat their dinner at Muru Pop Down restaurant at Tytyri mine in Lohja.
Photographs: Reuters.

Finland (Rank 9)

GDP: $266 billion
GDP per capita: $49,391

Finland is one of the world's wealthiest and competitive nations.

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Tags: Finland , GDP

World's best countries for business

Image: London.
Photographs: Reuters.

United Kingdom (Rank 10)

GDP: $2.4 trillion
GDP per capita: $38,818

UK is a developed country and has the world's seventh-largest economy by nominal GDP and eighth-largest economy by purchasing power parity.

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World's best countries for business

Image: Sydney.
Photographs: Reuters.

Australia (Rank 11)

GDP: $1.4 trillion
GDP per capita: $60,642

A highly developed country, Australia is the world's 12th-largest economy. 

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Tags: Australia , GDP

World's best countries for business

Image: A man walks through Times Square as a massive rain storm drenched New York.
Photographs: Gary Hershorn/Reuters.

United States (Rank 12)

GDP: $15.1 trillion
GDP per capita: $48,442

The US economy is the world's largest national economy, with an estimated 2011 GDP of $15.1 trillion (22% of nominal global GDP and over 19% of global GDP at purchasing-power parity).

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World's best countries for business

Image: Two women walk past a clothing store on the first day of the winter sales in Brussels.
Photographs: Thierry Roge/Reuters.

Belgium (Rank 13)

GDP: $512 billion
GDP per capita: $46,469

Belgium has a strongly globalised economy and its transport infrastructure is integrated with the rest of Europe.

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Tags: Belgium , GDP , Europe

World's best countries for business


Photographs: Reuters.

The Netherlands (Rank 14)

GDP: $836 billion
GDP per capita: $50,087

The Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking high on the Index of Economic Freedom.

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World's best countries for business

Image: Zurich.
Photographs: Reuters.

15. Switzerland (Rank 15)

GDP: $636 billion
GDP per capita: $80,391

Switzerland is one of the richest countries in the world by per capita gross domestic product, and has the highest wealth per adult (financial and non-financial assets) of any country in the world.

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Tags: , GDP , Switzerland

World's best countries for business

Image: People visit a giant replica of Lemuel Gulliver built in a park in central Taiwan's city of Taichung.
Photographs: Ralph Jennings/Reuters.

Taiwan (Rank 16)

GDP: $467 billion
GDP per capita: $20,083

Taiwan has experienced rapid economic growth and industrialization and is now an advanced industrial economy.

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Tags: Taiwan , GDP

World's best countries for business

Image: Tourists take in the view of the Andes Mountains from Santa Lucia Hill in downtown Santiago.
Photographs: Carlos Barria/Reuters.

Chile (Rank 17)

GDP: $249 billion
GDP per capita: $14,394

Chile is one of South America's most stable and prosperous nations. It leads Latin American nations in human development, competitiveness, income per capita, globalization, economic freedom, and low perception of corruption.

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World's best countries for business

Image: A general view of the Ducal Palace in Luxembourg.
Photographs: Reuters.

Luxembourg (Rank 18)

GDP: $59 billion
GDP per capita: $115,038

Luxembourg's stable and high-income market economy features moderate growth, low inflation, and a high level of innovation.

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Tags: , GDP , Luxembourg

World's best countries for business

Image: An Iceland fan shouts during their men's European Handball Championship group B match against Serbia in Linz.
Photographs: Ognen Teofilovski/Reuters.

Iceland (Rank 19)

GDP: $14 billion
GDP per capita: $44,072

Iceland has a free-market economy with relatively low corporate taxes compared to other OECD countries. Iceland is one of the wealthiest and most developed nations in the world.  

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Tags: OECD , Iceland , GDP

World's best countries for business

Image: Eiffel Tower, Paris.
Photographs: Reuters.

France (Rank 20)

GDP: $2.8 trillion
GDP per capita: $42,377

France is a developed country, the wealthiest nation in Europe – and the fourth-wealthiest in the world – in aggregate household wealth.

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Tags: France , GDP , Europe

World's best countries for business

Image: Boats are sen floating above the piers on a flooded street in front of the historic skyline of Dresden, along the banks of the river Elbe.
Photographs: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters.

Germany (Rank 21)

GDP: $3.6 trillion
GDP per capita: $43,689

Germany has the world's fourth largest economy by nominal GDP and the fifth largest by purchasing power parity.

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Tags: GDP , Germany

World's best countries for business

Image: View of Estonia's capital Tallinn.
Photographs: Ints Kalnins/Reuters.

Estonia (Rank 22)

GDP: $22 billion
GDP per capita: $16,556

Estonia is listed as a 'high-income economy' by the World Bank, is identified as an "advanced economy" by the International Monetary Fund.

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World's best countries for business

Image: Slovenia.
Photographs: Courtesy, www.slovenia.info.

Slovenia (Rank 23)

GDP: $50 billion
GDP per capita: $24,142

Slovenia has a developed economy and is per capita the richest of Slavic states.

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Tags: Slovenia , GDP

World's best countries for business

Image: Thousands of Portuguese workers stage a march to protest against the center-right government's austerity policies in Lisbon.
Photographs: Luis D'Orey/Reuters.

Portugal (Rank 24)

GDP: $238 billion
GDP per capita: $22,330

 Portugal is a developed country with a very high Human Development Index.

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Tags: Portugal , GDP

World's best countries for business

Image: A mosque in northern Cyprus is seen behind an abandoned house in Nicosia's buffer zone.
Photographs: Yiorgos Karahalis/Reuters.

Cyprus (Rank 25)

GDP: $25 billion
GDP per capita: $30,670

The economy has diversified and become prosperous in recent years, in 2012, it was affected by the Eurozone financial and banking crisis.

Tags: GDP , Cyprus