United Kingdom

Ease of Doing Business in

United Kingdom

This page summarizes Doing Business 2013 data for the United Kingdom. The first table lists the overall "Ease of Doing Business" rank (out of 185 economies) and the rankings by each topic. It also lists the economy's distance to frontier (DTF)** measure. 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 OECD high income
Income Category High income
Population 62,641,000
GNI Per Capita (US$) 37,780
Doing Business 2013 Rank Doing Business 2012 Rank Change in Rank
7 6 down -1

Doing Business 2013 DTF** (% points) Doing Business 2012 DTF** (% points) Improvement in DTF** (% points)
85.8 85.8 0.0
Topic Rankings DB 2013 Rank DB 2012 Rank Change in Rank
Starting a Business 19 18 up -1
Dealing with Construction Permits 20 19 up -1
Getting Electricity 62 64 up 2
Registering Property 73 69 up -4
Getting Credit 1 1 No change
Protecting Investors 10 10 No change
Paying Taxes 16 19 up 3
Trading Across Borders 14 15 up 1
Enforcing Contracts 21 21 No change
Resolving Insolvency 8 6 up -2

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 2013 Rank 19 DB 2012 Rank 18 Change in Rank down-1
DB 2013 DTF** (% points) 88.4 DB 2012 DTF** (% points) 88.4 Improvement in DTF** (% points) 0.0
YearNew business densityNumber of new limited liability companies
2011 0.916,142
Indicator United Kingdom OECD high income 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 -- 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)
13 -- 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)
0.7 -- 4.5

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 -- 13.3
No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Check name for uniqueness at the company names index database on the web 1 day no charge
2 Prepare memorandum and articles of association; fill out and sign Form IN01 (application for registration). 1 day GBP 135 (approximately GBP 100 for solicitor services + GBP 35 for statutory book)
3 File incorporation documents with the Registrar of Companies at Companies House 1 day GBP 30
4 Contact HMRC and register for VAT 1 day no charge
* 5 Contact HMRC and register for PAYE 8 days, simultaneous with previous procedure no charge
6 Sign up for employer’s liability insurance 1 day no charge
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.

** The distance to frontier (DTF) measure shows the distance of each economy to the "frontier," which represents the highest performance observed on each of the indicators across all economies included in Doing Business since each indicator was included in Doing Business. An economy’s distance to frontier is indicated on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 represents the lowest performance and 100 the frontier. Read more...

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