The business environment in Romania has gotten less friendly in the last year, according to the World Bank's Doing Business 2018 report. The country ranks 45th out of 190 economies assessed in the 2018 report, with 72.87 points.

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The neighboring Republic of Moldova ranks better than Romania, being on the 44th place with 73 points. Hungary (48th) and Bulgaria (50th) are still behind Romania, however. Although Romania's overall score this year is 0.17 points higher than last year, the country lost nine positions.

Romania was on the 36th place in the 2017 ranking, doing slightly better than the year before. Romania made progress in terms of Paying Taxes, ranking 42nd in the 2018 World Bank report, up from 50th last year. On the other hand, the most significant decline was in the Dealing with Construction Permits category, where the country lost 55 positions – from 95th place in the 2017 report to the 150th place in the 2018 ranking. Romania also went slightly down based on the Starting a Business indicator, from 62nd to 64th place.

The average time required to start a business is 12 days, similar to last year's level. Although Getting Credit is one of the indicators for which Romania ranks high, the country lost 13 positions in this category, going down to 20th place in the 2018 Doing Business report. Last year, Romania was at number 7.

The country saw a similar fall in the Getting Electricity category, going down from 134th place last year to 147th this year. In the overall ranking, Romania is behind countries such as Moldova, Czech Republic, and Portugal, but ranks better than Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Greece. New Zealand ranks first in the 2018 Doing Business ranking, with 86.55 points, followed by Singapore (84.57), and Denmark (84.06).

On the other hand, the last places are occupied by Somalia, Eritrea, and Venezuela. Doing Business 2018 is the 15th in a series of annual reports investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulation and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 190 economies and over time. The full Doing Business 2018 report can be found here, while the specific data on Romania is available here.

Romania climbs six places in 2017 Global Innovation Index

Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com