Doing Business 2015: Norway Summary
Core Content
The Doing Business 2015 report evaluates the regulatory environment for small to medium-sized businesses across 189 economies, focusing on 11 key areas. It provides an aggregate ease of doing business ranking and a distance to frontier (DTF) score, which measures how close an economy is to the best regulatory practices in each area. Norway is ranked 6th in the ease of doing business ranking and has a DTF score of 82.4 in 2015, showing a slight improvement from 2014.
Main Indicators and Rankings
| Indicator |
Norway DB2015 |
Norway DB2014 |
Comparator |
Best Performer (DB2015) |
| Starting a Business (Rank) |
22 |
30 |
Denmark (25) |
New Zealand (1) |
| Starting a Business (DTF) |
94.03 |
92.21 |
Denmark (93.40) |
New Zealand (99.96) |
| Procedures (Number) |
4.0 |
5.0 |
Denmark (4.0) |
New Zealand (1.0) |
| Time (Days) |
5.0 |
6.0 |
Denmark (5.5) |
New Zealand (0.5) |
| Cost (% of Income per Capita) |
0.9 |
1.6 |
Denmark (0.2) |
Slovenia (0.0) |
| Dealing with Construction Permits (Rank) |
27 |
28 |
Denmark (5) |
Hong Kong SAR, China (1) |
| DTF Score |
83.05 |
83.04 |
Denmark (89.84) |
Hong Kong SAR, China (95.53) |
| Procedures (Number) |
10.0 |
10.0 |
Denmark (7.0) |
Hong Kong SAR, China (5.0) |
| Time (Days) |
122.5 |
122.5 |
Denmark (64.0) |
Singapore (26.0) |
| Cost (% of Warehouse Value) |
0.6 |
0.6 |
Denmark (2.3) |
Qatar (0.0) |
| Registering Property (Rank) |
5 |
5 |
Denmark (8) |
Georgia (1) |
| DTF Score |
94.12 |
94.12 |
Denmark (92.61) |
Georgia (99.88) |
| Procedures (Number) |
1.0 |
1.0 |
Denmark (3.0) |
4 Economies (1.0) |
| Time (Days) |
3.0 |
3.0 |
Denmark (4.0) |
3 Economies (1.0) |
| Cost (% of Property Value) |
2.5 |
2.5 |
Denmark (0.6) |
4 Economies (0.0) |
| Getting Credit (Rank) |
61 |
55 |
Denmark (23) |
New Zealand (1) |
| DTF Score |
55.00 |
55.00 |
Denmark (70.00) |
New Zealand (100) |
| Strength of Legal Rights Index (0-12) |
5 |
5 |
Denmark (8) |
3 Economies (12) |
| Depth of Credit Information Index (0-8) |
6 |
6 |
Denmark (6) |
23 Economies (8) |
| Credit Bureau Coverage (% of Adults) |
100.0 |
100.0 |
Denmark (19.6) |
23 Economies (100.0) |
| Credit Registry Coverage (% of Adults) |
0.0 |
0.0 |
Denmark (44.5) |
Portugal (100.0) |
| Protecting Minority Investors (Rank) |
12 |
11 |
Denmark (17) |
New Zealand (1) |
| DTF Score |
70.00 |
70.00 |
Denmark (67.50) |
New Zealand (81.67) |
| Conflict of Interest Regulation Index (0-10) |
7.0 |
7.0 |
Denmark (6.7) |
Singapore (9.3) |
| Shareholder Governance Index (0-10) |
7.0 |
7.0 |
Denmark (6.8) |
France (7.8) |
| Minority Investor Protection Index (0-10) |
7.0 |
7.0 |
Denmark (6.8) |
New Zealand (8.2) |
| Paying Taxes (Rank) |
15 |
14 |
Denmark (12) |
United Arab Emirates (1) |
| DTF Score |
90.80 |
90.80 |
Denmark (91.94) |
United Arab Emirates (99.44) |
| Payments (Number per Year) |
4.0 |
4.0 |
Denmark (10.0) |
Hong Kong SAR, China (3.0) |
| Time (Hours per Year) |
83.0 |
83.0 |
Denmark (130.0) |
Luxembourg (55.0) |
| Cost (% of Estate) |
1.0 |
1.0 |
Denmark (4.0) |
Norway (1.0) |
| Trading Across Borders (Rank) |
24 |
24 |
Denmark (7) |
Singapore (1) |
| DTF Score |
85.56 |
85.59 |
Denmark (92.23) |
Singapore (96.47) |
| Documents to Export (Number) |
4 |
4 |
Denmark (4) |
Ireland (2) |
| Time to Export (Days) |
8.0 |
8.0 |
Denmark (6.0) |
5 Economies (6.0) |
| Cost to Export (US$ per Container) |
1,265.0 |
1,225.0 |
Denmark (795.0) |
Timor-Leste (410.0) |
| Documents to Import (Number) |
5 |
5 |
Denmark (3) |
Ireland (2) |
| Time to Import (Days) |
7.0 |
7.0 |
Denmark (5.0) |
Singapore (4.0) |
| Cost to Import (US$ per Container) |
1,140.0 |
1,100.0 |
Denmark (745.0) |
Singapore (440.0) |
| Enforcing Contracts (Rank) |
8 |
8 |
Denmark (34) |
Singapore (1) |
| DTF Score |
78.41 |
78.41 |
Denmark (68.79) |
Singapore (89.54) |
| Time (Days) |
280.0 |
280.0 |
Denmark (410.0) |
Singapore (150.0) |
| Cost (% of Claim) |
9.9 |
9.9 |
Denmark (23.3) |
Iceland (9.0) |
| Procedures (Number) |
34.0 |
34.0 |
Denmark (35.0) |
Singapore (21.0) |
| Resolving Insolvency (Rank) |
8 |
8 |
Denmark (9) |
Finland (1) |
| DTF Score |
85.62 |
85.09 |
Denmark (84.59) |
Finland (93.85) |
| Time (Years) |
0.9 |
- |
Denmark (1.0) |
Ireland (0.4) |
| Cost (% of Estate) |
1.0 |
1.0 |
Denmark (4.0) |
Norway (1.0) |
| Outcome (Going Concern) |
1 |
1 |
Denmark (1) |
- |
| Recovery Rate (Cents per Dollar) |
92.3 |
91.3 |
Denmark (87.5) |
Japan (92.9) |
| Strength of Insolvency Framework Index (0-16) |
11.5 |
11.5 |
Denmark (12.0) |
5 Economies (15.0) |
Key Points
- Ease of Doing Business Ranking: Norway ranks 6th globally, maintaining its position from 2014 with no change in rank.
- Distance to Frontier (DTF) Score: Norway's DTF score is 82.4 in 2015, showing minimal improvement from 2014.
- Methodological Changes: The report includes updated methodologies for several indicators, such as the inclusion of a broader scope for protecting minority investors and changes in the calculation of DTF scores for paying taxes.
- Comparative Performance: Norway performs well in most indicators, with notable strengths in starting a business, registering property, and paying taxes.
- Best Performers: New Zealand leads in several areas, including starting a business and protecting minority investors, while Singapore excels in trading across borders and enforcing contracts.
- Labor Market Regulation: This indicator is not included in the aggregate ranking but is presented in the economy profile, showing Norway's performance in this area.
Main Views
- The report highlights that Norway has a highly efficient business environment, with many regulatory processes streamlined.
- The DTF score provides a more nuanced understanding of regulatory performance than the ranking alone.
- While Norway maintains a strong position, there are still areas where it could improve, particularly in enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.
- The labor market regulation indicators, though not part of the aggregate ranking, indicate that Norway's labor regulations are relatively efficient compared to comparator economies.
- The methodology changes in 2015 improve the accuracy and comparability of the data across economies.
Key Information
- The report covers 11 business regulatory areas, including starting a business, construction permits, electricity, property registration, credit, investor protection, taxes, trade, contract enforcement, insolvency, and labor regulations.
- Norway is classified as an OECD high-income economy, with a population of 5,084,190 and a GNI per capita of $102,610.
- Methodology updates in 2015 include changes in the DTF score calculation, expansion of indicator scope, and inclusion of new data for major economies.
- The report emphasizes that while the ranking is useful, it does not capture all aspects of the business environment.
- Comparative data is provided for other economies to highlight Norway's performance in relation to its peers.
Conclusion
Norway maintains a top-tier business environment with a strong regulatory framework. It ranks highly in most Doing Business indicators, demonstrating efficient processes in starting a business, registering property, and paying taxes. Despite minor improvements, there is still room for enhancement in areas such as contract enforcement and insolvency resolution. The report underscores the importance of benchmarking and provides a detailed view of Norway's performance in relation to other economies, aiding policy makers in identifying areas for reform.