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