Enforcing Contracts

The enforcing contracts topic assesses the efficiency of the judicial system by following the evolution of a commercial sale dispute over the quality of goods and tracking the time, cost and number of procedures involved from the moment the plaintiff files the lawsuit until payment is received. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2012. Read the methodology.

Use the tabs to view Enforcing Contracts data and analysis, reform summaries, frequent questions and related resources. Click on economy name for detailed information. Click on column headers to sort.

= Subnational Doing Business data available.

About Doing Business

The data and analysis appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small to medium-sized domestic business in 185 economies.

Excel
Print

Economy ▲	Enforcing Contracts rank	The time to resolve a dispute, counted from the moment the plaintiff files the lawsuit in court until payment. This includes both the days when actions take place and the waiting periods between. More informationTime (days)	The cost in court fees and attorney fees, where the use of attorneys is mandatory or common, expressed as a percentage of the debt value. More informationCost (% of claim)	The average number of procedures to enforce a contract. The list of procedural steps compiled for each economy traces the chronology of a commercial dispute before the relevant court. More informationProcedures (number)
East Asia & Pacific	..	522	48.6	37
Eastern Europe & Central Asia	..	414	25.8	37
Latin America & Caribbean	..	727	30.8	40
Middle East & North Africa	..	652	23.9	44
OECD high income	..	510	20.1	31
South Asia	..	1,075	27.2	43
Sub-Saharan Africa	..	649	50.1	39
Afghanistan	164	1,642	25.0	47
Albania	85	390	35.7	39
Algeria	126	630	21.9	45
Angola	183	1,011	44.4	46
Antigua and Barbuda	72	351	22.7	45
Argentina	48	590	16.5	36
Armenia	91	440	19.0	49
Australia	15	395	21.8	28
Austria	7	397	18.0	25
Azerbaijan	25	237	18.5	39
Bahamas, The	123	427	28.9	49
Bahrain	113	635	14.7	48
Bangladesh	182	1,442	63.3	41
Barbados	105	1,340	19.7	38
Belarus	13	275	23.4	29
Belgium	18	505	17.7	26
Belize	169	892	27.5	51
Benin	178	795	64.7	42
Bhutan	37	225	0.1	47
Bolivia	136	591	33.2	40
Bosnia and Herzegovina	120	595	34.0	37
Botswana	68	625	28.1	28
Brazil	116	731	16.5	44
Brunei Darussalam	158	540	36.6	47
Bulgaria	86	564	23.8	39
Burkina Faso	109	446	81.7	37
Burundi	175	832	38.6	44
Cambodia	142	401	103.4	44
Cameroon	172	800	46.6	42
Canada	62	570	22.3	36
Cape Verde	38	425	19.8	37
Central African Republic	177	660	82.0	43
Chad	167	743	45.7	41
Chile	70	480	28.6	36
China	19	406	11.1	37
Colombia	154	1,346	47.9	34
Comoros	159	506	89.4	43
Congo, Dem. Rep.	173	610	147.6	43
Congo, Rep.	162	560	53.2	44
Costa Rica	128	852	24.3	40
Côte d'Ivoire	127	770	41.7	33
Croatia	52	572	13.8	38
Cyprus	108	735	16.4	43
Czech Republic	79	611	33.0	27
Denmark	34	410	23.3	35
Djibouti	161	1,225	34.0	40
Dominica	170	681	36.0	47
Dominican Republic	84	460	40.9	34
Ecuador	99	588	27.2	39
Egypt, Arab Rep.	152	1,010	26.2	42
El Salvador	71	786	19.2	34
Equatorial Guinea	61	475	18.5	40
Eritrea	51	405	22.6	39
Estonia	31	425	22.3	35
Ethiopia	50	530	15.2	38
Fiji	67	397	38.9	34
Finland	9	375	13.3	33
France	8	390	17.4	29
Gabon	153	1,070	34.3	38
Gambia, The	65	407	37.9	33
Georgia	30	285	29.9	33
Germany	5	394	14.4	30
Ghana	48	487	23.0	36
Greece	87	819	14.4	39
Grenada	165	688	32.6	47
Guatemala	96	1,459	26.5	31
Guinea	131	276	45.0	49
Guinea-Bissau	142	1,715	25.0	40
Guyana	75	581	25.2	36
Haiti	97	530	42.6	35
Honduras	179	920	35.2	47
Hong Kong SAR, China	10	360	21.2	27
Hungary	16	395	15.0	35
Iceland	3	417	8.2	27
India	184	1,420	39.6	46
Indonesia	144	498	139.4	40
Iran, Islamic Rep.	53	505	17.0	39
Iraq	141	520	28.1	51
Ireland	63	650	26.9	21
Israel	94	890	25.3	35
Italy	160	1,210	29.9	41
Jamaica	129	655	45.6	35
Japan	35	360	32.2	30
Jordan	129	689	31.2	38
Kazakhstan	28	370	22.0	37
Kenya	149	465	47.2	44
Kiribati	73	660	25.8	32
Korea, Rep.	2	230	10.3	33
Kosovo	138	420	33.0	53
Kuwait	117	566	18.8	50
Kyrgyz Republic	47	260	29.0	38
Lao PDR	114	443	31.6	42
Latvia	24	469	23.1	27
Lebanon	121	721	30.8	37
Lesotho	139	615	31.3	41
Liberia	163	1,280	35.0	40
Lithuania	14	275	23.6	30
Luxembourg	1	321	9.7	26
Macedonia, FYR	59	370	31.1	37
Madagascar	156	871	42.4	38
Malawi	144	432	94.1	42
Malaysia	33	425	27.5	29
Maldives	92	665	16.5	41
Mali	133	620	52.0	36
Malta	121	505	35.9	40
Marshall Islands	66	476	27.4	36
Mauritania	77	370	23.2	46
Mauritius	58	645	16.3	36
Mexico	76	415	31.0	38
Micronesia, Fed. Sts.	149	885	66.0	34
Moldova	26	327	28.6	31
Mongolia	29	314	30.6	32
Montenegro	135	545	25.7	49
Morocco	88	510	25.2	40
Mozambique	132	730	142.5	30
Namibia	41	270	35.8	33
Nepal	137	910	26.8	39
Netherlands	32	514	23.9	26
New Zealand	17	216	27.2	30
Nicaragua	55	409	26.8	37
Niger	140	545	59.6	39
Nigeria	98	457	32.0	40
Norway	4	280	9.9	34
Oman	107	598	13.5	51
Pakistan	155	976	23.8	46
Palau	146	810	35.3	38
Panama	125	686	50.0	32
Papua New Guinea	166	591	110.3	42
Paraguay	106	591	30.0	38
Peru	115	428	35.7	41
Philippines	111	842	26.0	37
Poland	56	685	19.0	33
Portugal	22	547	13.0	32
Puerto Rico (U.S.)	101	620	25.6	39
Qatar	95	570	21.6	43
Romania	60	512	28.9	32
Russian Federation	11	270	13.4	36
Rwanda	39	230	78.7	23
Samoa	81	455	19.7	44
São Tomé and Príncipe	181	1,185	50.5	43
Saudi Arabia	124	635	27.5	40
Senegal	148	780	26.5	43
Serbia	103	635	31.3	36
Seychelles	83	915	15.4	37
Sierra Leone	147	515	149.5	39
Singapore	12	150	25.8	21
Slovak Republic	69	545	30.0	32
Slovenia	56	1,290	12.7	32
Solomon Islands	109	455	78.9	37
South Africa	82	600	33.2	29
Spain	64	510	17.2	40
Sri Lanka	133	1,318	22.8	40
St. Kitts and Nevis	119	578	20.5	47
St. Lucia	168	635	37.3	47
St. Vincent and the Grenadines	99	394	30.3	45
Sudan	151	810	19.8	53
Suriname	180	1,715	37.1	44
Swaziland	174	956	56.1	40
Sweden	27	314	31.2	30
Switzerland	20	390	24.0	32
Syrian Arab Republic	176	872	29.3	55
Taiwan, China	90	510	17.7	45
Tajikistan	43	430	25.5	35
Tanzania	36	462	14.3	38
Thailand	23	440	15.0	36
Timor-Leste	185	1,285	163.2	51
Togo	157	588	47.5	41
Tonga	54	350	30.5	37
Trinidad and Tobago	170	1,340	33.5	42
Tunisia	78	565	21.8	39
Turkey	40	420	24.9	36
Uganda	117	490	44.9	38
Ukraine	42	343	41.5	30
United Arab Emirates	104	524	19.5	49
United Kingdom	21	399	25.9	28
United States	6	370	14.4	32
Uruguay	102	725	19.0	41
Uzbekistan	46	195	22.2	42
Vanuatu	74	430	56.0	30
Venezuela, RB	80	510	43.7	30
Vietnam	44	400	29.0	34
West Bank and Gaza	93	540	21.2	44
Yemen, Rep.	45	569	16.5	36
Zambia	89	471	38.7	35
Zimbabwe	111	410	113.1	38

Notes: Click on economy name for detailed information. Click on column headers to sort.

= Subnational Doing Business data available.

Explore Economy Data

- OR -

OTHER OPTIONS

Enforcing Contracts

About Doing Business

Other Resources

Explore Economy Data

THE WORLD BANK GROUP