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)
South Asia20.44.56.5
OECD68.61.78.4
Eastern Europe & Central Asia31.62.913.5
Middle East & North Africa29.93.514.1
Latin America & Caribbean26.83.315.9
Sub-Saharan Africa17.03.420.1
East Asia & Pacific28.42.723.2
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
Colombia52.83.01
Kuwait34.54.21
Norway89.00.91
Singapore91.30.81
Bahamas, the54.75.04
Belgium86.30.94
Brunei Darussalam47.22.54
Canada88.70.84
Finland87.30.94
Georgia27.93.34
Iceland76.61.04
Japan92.50.64
Korea, Rep.80.51.54
Netherlands82.71.14
New Zealand76.21.34
Oman35.14.04
Switzerland46.83.04
Armenia41.81.94
Denmark86.51.14
Maldives18.26.74
Pakistan39.22.84
Taiwan, China80.91.94
Sri Lanka43.41.75
United Kingdom84.21.06
Algeria41.72.57
Antigua and Barbuda35.53.07
Lithuania49.41.57
Peru25.43.17
Senegal31.63.07
Tunisia52.31.37
United States76.71.57
Uruguay43.02.17
Australia78.81.08
Azerbaijan30.12.78
Bangladesh23.24.08
Germany52.21.28
Guinea22.03.88
Lesotho33.92.68
Mongolia22.04.08
Montenegro43.72.08
Puerto Rico55.23.88
Slovenia45.52.08
Yemen, Rep.28.63.08
Bosnia and Herzegovina35.93.39
Bulgaria32.13.39
Burkina Faso21.74.09
El Salvador30.84.09
Estonia37.53.09
France44.71.99
Greece44.22.09
Hong Kong, China79.81.19
India15.17.09
Iran, Islamic Rep.23.14.59
Ireland86.60.49
Jordan27.34.39
Mauritania6.78.09
Moldova28.62.89
Mozambique15.25.09
Nepal24.55.09
Paraguay20.73.99
Portugal69.42.09
Russian Federation28.23.89
St. Lucia42.92.09
Sweden75.12.09
Syrian Arab Republic29.54.19
Tajikistan25.43.09
Zambia30.22.79
Bahrain63.22.510
Uzbekistan18.74.010
Romania28.53.311
Argentina29.82.812
Brazil17.14.012
Latvia29.03.013
Bolivia37.31.815
Botswana60.31.715
Cameroon25.53.215
Chile21.34.515
Costa Rica25.43.515
Croatia30.53.115
Cyprus70.71.515
Czech Republic20.96.515
Ethiopia32.23.015
Gabon15.25.015
Gambia, the19.53.015
Guatemala28.23.015
Honduras20.83.815
Hungary38.42.015
Luxembourg41.72.015
Malaysia38.62.315
Mauritius33.61.715
Namibia39.51.515
Nicaragua34.32.215
Spain73.21.015
Swaziland34.92.015
Turkey20.23.315
Vietnam18.05.015
Kazakhstan40.61.515
Kyrgyz Republic14.24.015
Togo26.63.015
Kosovo56.82.015
Austria71.51.118
Côte d'Ivoire34.02.218
Djibouti15.95.018
Ecuador16.15.318
Indonesia13.75.518
Jamaica64.51.118
Mali20.93.618
Mexico64.21.818
Morocco35.11.818
Niger14.05.018
Panama32.42.518
Slovak Republic45.94.018
South Africa32.22.018
Poland29.83.020
Benin16.74.022
Angola10.06.222
Belarus33.45.822
China35.31.722
Egypt, Arab Rep.16.84.222
Ghana24.01.922
Italy56.61.822
Kenya31.64.522
Lebanon19.04.022
Nigeria28.02.022
Qatar52.72.822
Saudi Arabia37.51.522
Tanzania21.33.022
Tonga25.22.722
Zimbabwe0.03.322
Belize63.41.023
Palau38.21.023
Israel44.94.023
Papua New Guinea24.73.023
Serbia25.42.723
Congo, Rep.20.43.024
Malawi17.52.625
Macedonia, FYR20.92.928
Congo, Dem. Rep.5.45.229
Guyana17.63.029
Haiti2.75.730
Uganda41.12.230
Suriname8.15.030
United Arab Emirates10.25.130
Thailand42.42.736
Dominican Republic8.93.538
Fiji20.11.838
Marshall Islands17.92.038
Micronesia, Fed. Sts.3.55.338
Philippines4.45.738
Samoa14.32.538
Solomon Islands23.61.038
Vanuatu41.22.638
Venezuela, R.B.6.04.038
Sierra Leone8.52.642
Ukraine9.12.942
Liberia8.33.043
Central African Republic0.04.876