Panama

Ease of Doing Business in

Panama

This page shows summary Doing Business 2012 data for Panama. The first table lists the overall "Ease of Doing Business" rank (out of 183 economies) and the rankings by each topic. The rest of the tables summarize the key indicators for each topic and benchmark against regional and high-income economy (OECD) averages.

Economy Overview

Region Latin America & Caribbean
Income Category Upper middle income
Population 3,508,475
GNI Per Capita (US$) 6,990.00
Doing Business 2012 Rank Doing Business 2011 Rank Change in Rank
61 63 down 2
Topic Rankings DB 2012 Rank DB 2011 Rank Change in Rank
Starting a Business 29 23 up -6
Dealing with Construction Permits 71 66 up -5
Getting Electricity 15 14 up -1
Registering Property 120 113 up -7
Getting Credit 48 45 up -3
Protecting Investors 111 108 up -3
Paying Taxes 169 170 up 1
Trading Across Borders 11 9 up -2
Enforcing Contracts 119 119 No change
Resolving Insolvency 83 83 No change

Economy Profile

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Starting a Business

Info

The challenges of launching a business are shown below. Included are: the number of steps entrepreneurs can expect to go through to launch, the time it takes on average, and the cost and minimum capital required as a percentage of gross national income (GNI) per capita.

DB 2012 Rank 29 DB 2011 Rank 23 Change in Rank down-6
Indicator Panama Latin America & Caribbean OECD

The total number of procedures required to register a firm. A procedure is defined as any interaction of the company founders with external parties (for example, government agencies, lawyers, auditors or notaries).

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Procedures (number)
6 9 5

The total number of days required to register a firm. The measure captures the median duration that incorporation lawyers indicate is necessary to complete a procedure with minimum follow-up with government agencies and no extra payments.

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Time (days)
8 54 12

Cost is recorded as a percentage of the economy’s income per capita. It includes all official fees and fees for legal or professional services if such services are required by law.

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Cost (% of income per capita)
9.9 37.3 4.7

The amount that the entrepreneur needs to deposit in a bank or with a notary before registration and up to 3 months following incorporation and is recorded as a percentage of the economy’s income per capita.

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Paid-in Min. Capital (% of income per capita)
0.0 4.3 14.1
No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Hire a registered agent 1 day USD 200
2 Notarize articles of incorporation 1 day USD 75
3 Register at the Mercantile Division of the Public Registry and pay Annual Franchise Tax 3 days see comments
4 Obtain a notice of operation (“aviso de operación”) through the “Panama emprende” website 1 day USD 15 for persons and USD 55 for legal entities
5 Register with municipality; get a “paz y salvo municipal” 1 day included in procedure 4
6 Request an employers’ inscription number from the Social Security Administration 1 day no charge

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