Closing a Business

This topic identifies weaknesses in existing bankruptcy law and the main procedural and administrative bottlenecks in the bankruptcy process.

The table below shows the main indicators. They include:
  • average time to complete a procedure,
  • cost of the bankruptcy proceedings, and
  • the recovery rate, which calculates how many cents on the dollar claimants (creditors, tax authorities, and employees) recover from an insolvent firm.
"No practice" means that there have been less than 60 completed insolvency cases in the past 20 years. Click on column headers to sort data.

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Research

Debt Enforcement Around the World (PDF, 216 KB), by Djankov and others, Journal of Political Economy, Dec 2008.
Region or EconomyRecovery rate (cents on the dollar)Time (years)Cost (% of estate)
East Asia & Pacific28.42.723.2
Eastern Europe & Central Asia31.62.913.5
Latin America & Caribbean26.83.315.9
Middle East & North Africa29.93.514.1
OECD68.61.78.4
South Asia20.44.56.5
Sub-Saharan Africa17.03.420.1
Afghanistan0.0no practiceno practice
Albania0.0no practiceno practice
Algeria41.72.57
Angola10.06.222
Antigua and Barbuda35.53.07
Argentina29.82.812
Armenia41.81.94
Australia78.81.08
Austria71.51.118
Azerbaijan30.12.78
Bahamas, the54.75.04
Bahrain63.22.510
Bangladesh23.24.08
Belarus33.45.822
Belgium86.30.94
Belize63.41.023
Benin16.74.022
Bhutan0.0no practiceno practice
Bolivia37.31.815
Bosnia and Herzegovina35.93.39
Botswana60.31.715
Brazil17.14.012
Brunei Darussalam47.22.54
Bulgaria32.13.39
Burkina Faso21.74.09
Burundi0.0no practiceno practice
Cambodia0.0no practiceno practice
Cameroon25.53.215
Canada88.70.84
Cape Verde0.0no practiceno practice
Central African Republic0.04.876
Chad0.0no practiceno practice
Chile21.34.515
China35.31.722
Colombia52.83.01
Comoros0.0no practiceno practice
Congo, Dem. Rep.5.45.229
Congo, Rep.20.43.024
Costa Rica25.43.515
Côte d'Ivoire34.02.218
Croatia30.53.115
Cyprus70.71.515
Czech Republic20.96.515
Denmark86.51.14
Djibouti15.95.018
Dominica0.0no practiceno practice
Dominican Republic8.93.538
Ecuador16.15.318
Egypt, Arab Rep.16.84.222
El Salvador30.84.09
Equatorial Guinea0.0no practiceno practice
Eritrea0.0no practiceno practice
Estonia37.53.09
Ethiopia32.23.015
Fiji20.11.838
Finland87.30.94
France44.71.99
Gabon15.25.015
Gambia, the19.53.015
Georgia27.93.34
Germany52.21.28
Ghana24.01.922
Greece44.22.09
Grenada0.0no practiceno practice
Guatemala28.23.015
Guinea22.03.88
Guinea-Bissau0.0no practiceno practice
Guyana17.63.029
Haiti2.75.730
Honduras20.83.815
Hong Kong, China79.81.19
Hungary38.42.015
Iceland76.61.04
India15.17.09
Indonesia13.75.518
Iran, Islamic Rep.23.14.59
Iraq0.0no practiceno practice
Ireland86.60.49
Israel44.94.023
Italy56.61.822
Jamaica64.51.118
Japan92.50.64
Jordan27.34.39
Kazakhstan40.61.515
Kenya31.64.522
Kiribati0.0no practiceno practice
Korea, Rep.80.51.54
Kosovo56.82.015
Kuwait34.54.21
Kyrgyz Republic14.24.015
Lao PDR0.0no practiceno practice
Latvia29.03.013
Lebanon19.04.022
Lesotho33.92.68
Liberia8.33.043
Lithuania49.41.57
Luxembourg41.72.015
Macedonia, FYR20.92.928
Madagascar0.0no practiceno practice
Malawi17.52.625
Malaysia38.62.315
Maldives18.26.74
Mali20.93.618
Marshall Islands17.92.038
Mauritania6.78.09
Mauritius33.61.715
Mexico64.21.818
Micronesia, Fed. Sts.3.55.338
Moldova28.62.89
Mongolia22.04.08
Montenegro43.72.08
Morocco35.11.818
Mozambique15.25.09
Namibia39.51.515
Nepal24.55.09
Netherlands82.71.14
New Zealand76.21.34
Nicaragua34.32.215
Niger14.05.018
Nigeria28.02.022
Norway89.00.91
Oman35.14.04
Pakistan39.22.84
Palau38.21.023
Panama32.42.518
Papua New Guinea24.73.023
Paraguay20.73.99
Peru25.43.17
Philippines4.45.738
Poland29.83.020
Portugal69.42.09
Puerto Rico55.23.88
Qatar52.72.822
Romania28.53.311
Russian Federation28.23.89
Rwanda0.0no practiceno practice
Samoa14.32.538
São Tomé and Principe0.0no practiceno practice
Saudi Arabia37.51.522
Senegal31.63.07
Serbia25.42.723
Seychelles0.0no practiceno practice
Sierra Leone8.52.642
Singapore91.30.81
Slovak Republic45.94.018
Slovenia45.52.08
Solomon Islands23.61.038
South Africa32.22.018
Spain73.21.015
Sri Lanka43.41.75
St. Kitts and Nevis0.0no practiceno practice
St. Lucia42.92.09
St. Vincent and the Grenadines0.0no practiceno practice
Sudan0.0no practiceno practice
Suriname8.15.030
Swaziland34.92.015
Sweden75.12.09
Switzerland46.83.04
Syrian Arab Republic29.54.19
Taiwan, China80.91.94
Tajikistan25.43.09
Tanzania21.33.022
Thailand42.42.736
Timor-Leste0.0no practiceno practice
Togo26.63.015
Tonga25.22.722
Trinidad and Tobago0.0no practiceno practice
Tunisia52.31.37
Turkey20.23.315
Uganda41.12.230
Ukraine9.12.942
United Arab Emirates10.25.130
United Kingdom84.21.06
United States76.71.57
Uruguay43.02.17
Uzbekistan18.74.010
Vanuatu41.22.638
Venezuela, R.B.6.04.038
Vietnam18.05.015
West Bank and Gaza0.0no practiceno practice
Yemen, Rep.28.63.08
Zambia30.22.79
Zimbabwe0.03.322