Statement of World Bank Group on Discontinuing Doing Business Report
After data irregularities on Doing Business 2018 and 2020 were reported internally in June 2020, World Bank management paused the next Doing Business report and initiated a series of reviews and audits of the report and its methodology. Read the full statement released by the World Bank Group on the Doing Business report.
External Panel Review of Doing Business Methodology
The World Bank Group commissioned an external review of the methodology of the Doing Business report.
Read the review here.
Read the cover letter here.
Read the statement here.
Doing Business Data Corrections and Findings of Internal Audit
Review of Data Irregularities: Report prepared by Management of the Development Economics (DEC) Vice-Presidency, the World Bank Group
Management Review of Data Irregularities in the Doing Business Reports from 2016 to 2020: Verification Report
Data Integrity in Production Process of the Doing Business Report: Assurance Review
HIGHLIGHTS
Main findings for Doing Business 2020
- Doing Business captures 294 regulatory reforms implemented between May 2018 and May 2019. Worldwide, 115 economies made it easier to do business.
- The economies with the most notable improvement in Doing Business 2020 are Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Togo, Bahrain, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Kuwait, China, India and Nigeria. In 2018/19, these countries implemented one-fifth of all the reforms recorded worldwide.
- Economies in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean continue to lag in terms of reforms. Only two Sub-Saharan African economies rank in the top 50 on the ease of doing business; no Latin American economies rank in this group.
- Doing Business 2020 continues to show a steady convergence between developing and developed economies, especially in the area of business incorporation. Since 2003/04, 178 economies have implemented 722 reforms captured by the starting a business indicator set, either reducing or eliminating barriers to entry.
- Those economies that score well on Doing Business tend to benefit from higher levels of entrepreneurial activity and lower levels of corruption.
- While economic reasons are the main drivers of reform, the advancement of neighboring economies provides an additional impetus for regulatory change.
- Twenty-six economies became less business-friendly, introducing 31 regulatory changes that stifle efficiency and quality of regulation.
