Enforcing Contracts

This topic looks at the efficiency of contract enforcement by following the evolution of a sale of goods dispute and tracking the time, cost, and number of procedures involved from the moment the plaintiff files the lawsuit until actual payment.

The table below shows the three main indicators for enforcing contracts. They are:

number of procedures from the moment the plaintiff files a lawsuit in court until the moment of payment,
time in calendar days to resolve the dispute, and
cost in court fees and attorney fees, where the use of attorneys is mandatory or common, expressed as a percentage of the debt value.

To see the details for a specific economy, use the dropdown box on the right or click on the links below. Click on column headers to sort data.

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Courts (PDF, 691KB), by Simeon Djankov and others, Quarterly Journal of Economics, May 2003.

Region or Economy	Procedures (number)	Time (days)	Cost (% of claim)
Eastern Europe & Central Asia	37.1	450.9	25.6
OECD	30.6	462.4	19.2
East Asia & Pacific	37.2	538.1	48.5
Sub-Saharan Africa	39.2	643.9	49.3
Middle East & North Africa	43.4	679.9	23.7
Latin America & Caribbean	39.7	707.0	31.3
South Asia	43.5	1,052.9	27.2
Singapore	21	150	25.8
Uzbekistan	42	195	22.2
New Zealand	30	216	22.4
Belarus	28	225	23.4
Bhutan	47	225	0.1
Korea, Rep.	35	230	10.3
Azerbaijan	39	237	18.5
Kyrgyz Republic	39	260	29.0
Rwanda	24	260	78.7
Namibia	33	270	35.8
Lithuania	30	275	23.6
Guinea	50	276	45.0
Hong Kong, China	24	280	19.5
Norway	33	280	9.9
Russian Federation	37	281	13.4
Armenia	48	285	19.0
Georgia	36	285	29.9
Vietnam	34	295	28.5
United States	32	300	14.4
Latvia	27	309	23.1
Mongolia	32	314	30.6
Luxembourg	26	321	9.7
France	29	331	17.4
Ukraine	30	345	41.5
Tonga	37	350	30.5
Antigua and Barbuda	45	351	22.7
Japan	30	360	22.7
Moldova	31	365	20.9
Macedonia, FYR	37	370	33.1
Mauritania	46	370	23.2
Finland	32	375	10.4
Denmark	34	380	23.3
Albania	39	390	38.7
Kazakhstan	38	390	22.0
Germany	30	394	14.4
St. Vincent and the Grenadines	45	394	30.3
Australia	28	395	20.7
Hungary	33	395	13.0
Austria	25	397	18.0
Fiji	34	397	38.9
United Kingdom	30	399	23.4
Cambodia	44	401	102.7
Eritrea	39	405	22.6
China	34	406	11.1
Zimbabwe	38	410	32.0
Mexico	38	415	32.0
Iceland	26	417	6.2
Switzerland	31	417	24.0
Kosovo	53	420	61.2
Turkey	35	420	18.8
Cape Verde	37	425	21.8
Estonia	36	425	26.3
Bahamas, the	49	427	28.9
Peru	41	428	35.7
Tajikistan	34	430	25.5
Vanuatu	30	430	74.7
Malawi	42	432	142.4
Gambia, the	32	434	37.9
Lao PDR	42	443	31.6
Burkina Faso	37	446	83.0
Samoa	44	455	19.7
Solomon Islands	37	455	78.9
Nigeria	39	457	32.0
Dominican Republic	34	460	40.9
Tanzania	38	462	14.3
Kenya	40	465	47.2
Zambia	35	471	38.7
Marshall Islands	36	476	27.4
Thailand	35	479	12.3
Chile	36	480	28.6
Ghana	36	487	23.0
Belgium	25	505	16.6
Comoros	43	506	89.4
Haiti	35	508	42.6
Sweden	30	508	31.2
Taiwan, China	47	510	17.7
Uganda	38	510	44.9
Venezuela, R.B.	29	510	43.7
Romania	31	512	28.9
Netherlands	25	514	24.4
Ireland	20	515	26.9
Sierra Leone	40	515	149.5
Spain	39	515	17.2
Iran, Islamic Rep.	39	520	17.0
Iraq	51	520	27.3
Yemen, Rep.	36	520	16.5
United Arab Emirates	49	537	26.2
Brunei Darussalam	58	540	36.6
Nicaragua	35	540	26.8
Montenegro	49	545	25.7
Niger	39	545	59.6
Portugal	31	547	13.0
Equatorial Guinea	40	553	18.5
Congo, Rep.	44	560	53.2
Croatia	38	561	13.8
Bulgaria	39	564	23.8
Slovak Republic	30	565	30.0
Tunisia	39	565	21.8
Kuwait	50	566	18.8
Canada	36	570	22.3
Indonesia	39	570	122.7
Qatar	43	570	21.6
St. Kitts and Nevis	47	578	20.5
Guyana	36	581	25.2
Malaysia	30	585	27.5
Ecuador	39	588	27.2
Togo	41	588	47.5
Argentina	36	590	16.5
Bolivia	40	591	33.2
Papua New Guinea	42	591	110.3
Paraguay	38	591	30.0
Bosnia and Herzegovina	38	595	38.4
Oman	51	598	13.5
South Africa	30	600	33.2
West Bank and Gaza	44	600	21.2
Czech Republic	27	611	33.0
Morocco	40	615	25.2
Brazil	45	616	16.5
Ethiopia	37	620	15.2
Puerto Rico	39	620	24.3
Congo, Dem. Rep.	43	625	151.8
Mali	36	626	52.0
Algeria	46	630	21.9
Bahrain	48	635	14.7
Saudi Arabia	43	635	27.5
Serbia	36	635	28.9
St. Lucia	47	635	37.3
Jamaica	35	655	45.6
Central African Republic	43	660	82.0
Kiribati	32	660	25.8
Maldives	41	665	16.5
Dominica	47	681	36.0
Panama	31	686	50.0
Botswana	29	687	28.0
Grenada	47	688	32.6
Jordan	38	689	31.2
Lesotho	41	695	19.5
Mauritius	36	720	17.4
Seychelles	38	720	14.3
Uruguay	40	720	19.0
Lebanon	37	721	30.8
Mozambique	30	730	142.5
Cyprus	43	735	16.4
Nepal	39	735	26.8
Chad	41	743	77.4
Côte d'Ivoire	33	770	41.7
Senegal	44	780	26.5
El Salvador	30	786	19.2
Cameroon	43	800	46.6
Sudan	53	810	19.8
Greece	39	819	14.4
Benin	42	825	64.7
Poland	38	830	12.0
Burundi	44	832	38.6
Philippines	37	842	26.0
Costa Rica	40	852	24.3
Madagascar	38	871	42.4
Syrian Arab Republic	55	872	29.3
Palau	38	885	35.3
Israel	35	890	25.3
Belize	51	892	27.5
Honduras	45	900	35.2
Micronesia, Fed. Sts.	34	965	66.0
Swaziland	40	972	23.1
Pakistan	47	976	23.8
Egypt, Arab Rep.	41	1,010	26.2
Angola	46	1,011	44.4
Gabon	38	1,070	34.3
Guinea-Bissau	41	1,140	25.0
São Tomé and Principe	43	1,185	50.5
Italy	40	1,210	29.9
Djibouti	40	1,225	34.0
Liberia	41	1,280	35.0
Slovenia	32	1,290	12.7
Sri Lanka	40	1,318	22.8
Trinidad and Tobago	42	1,340	33.5
Colombia	34	1,346	52.6
India	46	1,420	39.6
Timor-Leste	51	1,435	163.2
Bangladesh	41	1,442	63.3
Guatemala	31	1,459	26.5
Afghanistan	47	1,642	25.0
Suriname	44	1,715	37.1

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Enforcing Contracts

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